Volkswagen aims for Traton truck IPO in April: Sources

Volkswagen is aiming to list its trucks unit Traton in April and expects to sell shares worth €5bn to €6bn ($5.7bn to $6.9bn), two people close to the matter said.Plans for a stock market listing, potentially Germany’s biggest new share offering in 2019, have not been finalised and depend on market conditions, these people said.Analysts would be given until early March to value the earnings power of the maker of vehicles under the MAN, Scania and VW brands, the two sources said, adding that the listing was expected before Easter, which falls on April 21 this year.Traton chief executive Andreas Renschler did not comment when asked about the plans yesterday, but told analysts at the firm’s capital markets day: “We want to be the most profitable vehicle player and to have access to all global profit pools.”If markets are deemed favourable, Volkswagen would publish a so-called intention to float (ITF) in the second half of March followed by the listing four weeks later, the sources added.Volkswagen declined to comment about any such plans.The initial public offering (IPO) is expected to give Traton an enterprise value of about €30bn, with equity expected to be valued at about €25bn, the sources said.Volkswagen was expected to sell shares worth €5bn to €6bn, they said. “If markets are slightly volatile, Volkswagen will likely sell a smaller stake,” one of them said.Traton aimed to float on the Frankfurt stock exchange with a possible secondary listing in Sweden, the home of its Scania brand, the sources said. “Stockholm would help Traton attract local, long-term oriented investors in Sweden,” one source said.Traton might also bring in a so-called cornerstone investor before the listing, although no deal had been struck, the sources said.VW plans to build a global trucks business by integrating its MAN and Scania divisions to challenge Daimler and Volvo.A flotation could allow Volkswagen Truck & Bus to build a war chest to deepen its relationship with Navistar, a US truck maker in which it now owns a 16.85% stake.JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Citi have been mandated as global co-ordinators for the listing.Barclays, Bank of America, BNP, SEB, Unicredit are acting joint bookrunners, while Commerzbank, HSBC, Societe Generale and LBBW are acting as co-leads.