Volkswagen’s heavy-trucks business to be listed at stock exchange

Volkswagen valued its heavy-trucks business at as much as USD 18.6 billion in a planned initial public offering that will test Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess’s ambition of overhauling the carmaking behemoth, Bloomberg reports.

The manufacturer intends to offer stock in Traton SE, which sells MAN and Scania AB vehicles, for between 27 euros to 33 euros per share, it said in a statement Thursday, valuing the division at 13.5 billion euros to 16.5 billion euros (USD 18.6 billion). As Bloomberg writes, it’s set to be one of the year’s largest European public offerings.

Listing Traton is management’s highest-profile most notable move in a push to make the world’s largest automobile manufacturer more agile, which includes potential plans to shed assets, seek cooperations and freeing up units to make decisions.

Bloomberg reports that Diess is considering selling operations that builds ship engines and large transmissions while teaming up with Ford Motor Co. on vans and likely electric and autonomous cars.

VW’s plans for Traton and with Ford will help create “currency” for the upcoming phase of industry consolidation, Diess told a gathering of top executives on Thursday.

VW has been working toward a listing of Traton for more than three years, reviving plans last month that were shelved earlier in the year.

Volkswagen AG Wolfsburg

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Volkswagen heavy truck business IPO

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