Volkswagen is discussing with Swedish institutional investors AMF, AP Fund 1 and 4, Investor AB and Folksam about being cornerstone shareholders in the dual listing of its trucks unit Traton in Stockholm and Frankfurt, people knowledgeable with the matter stated.
The discussions could lead more than one cornerstone investor being brought on board and are for every investor to take a 150 million to 300 million euro ($171.21-$342.42 million) stake, these sources informed Reuters, refusing to be named as these discussions are confidential.
Cornerstone investors are institutions that are invited to subscribe to shares prior to an IPO to increase its popularity and often serve as a seal of approval for other investors. Securing such investors is well known among Nordic companies.
Första AP-fonden (AP1) had been enquired about being anchor investors, its head of equities Olof Jonasson informed Reuters, but refused to comment on stake size and cost .
“We have been approached but I couldn’t really tell you anything about the details… Our interest… would be about business potential and valuation and all those things put together,” stated Jonasson, whose fund is also a large owner of Swedish competitor AB Volvo.
Reuters reported earlier week that VW anticipates to sell shares worth 5 billion-6 billion euros ($5.7-$6.9 billion) in an April listing that could value Traton around 20 billion-25 billion euros.
At this size and cost, the IPO could possibly become Germany’s and Sweden’s biggest new share offering in this year, but the sources stated its size had not yet been decided and would depend on condition of market.
AP4 head of equities Per Colleen stated he could not verify any of the information but added: “Anything of that size, we will have a serious look at”.
