BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s Volkswagen plans to sell 15% of its shares in truck unit Traton in the first half of this year, hoping to raise about 2 billion euros ($2.09 billion), manager magazin reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed company sources.
Volkswagen declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Traton said they could not comment on Volkswagen’s plans, but regularly received feedback from investors that the low free float was an obstacle for them – a point which Volkswagen CFO Arno Antlitz also made on an earnings call in April.
Following a partial initial public offering in 2019, most of Traton is owned by parent Volkswagen with the company’s free float at a mere 10.28%.
Blume confirmed in May that Volkswagen planned to lower its stake in Traton to 75% plus one share over the medium-term, compared with 89.72% now.
($1 = 0.9571 euros)
(Reporting by Christina Amman Writing by Madeline Chambers, Victoria Waldersee; editing by Matthias Williams)
