STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 1, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Scania (NYSE:SCVa) (NYSE:SCVb) has agreed to sell Din Bil Sverige AB to Volkswagen AG of Germany. The transaction can be completed after examination and approval by the competition authorities concerned.
The divestment of the car importer is part of Scania's strategy of concentrating its operations on commercial vehicles. The task of dividing Scania's formerly common sales and service network for cars and commercial vehicles has now been completed. Earlier this year, Scania made a similar agreement to sell its 50 percent shareholding in the Swedish importer Svenska Volkswagen AB to Volkswagen AG.
Din Bil Sverige AB includes Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda as well as Porsche dealerships in the major metropolitan regions of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo-Helsingborg. Its operations employ about 1,200 people and the company accounts for about one third of the sales of these car makes in the Swedish market.
The approval of the sale by Scania's Board of Directors was preceded by a financial fairness opinion provided by ABN-Amro Bank.
The purchase price is about SEK 450 million. Scania's capital gain amounts to about SEK 300 m.
Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. With 28,300 employees and production facilities in Europe and Latin America, Scania is one of the most profitable companies in its sector. In 2001, turnover totaled SEK 53,000 million and the result after financial items was SEK 1,500 million. Scania products are marketed in about 100 countries worldwide and some 95 percent of Scania's vehicles are sold outside Sweden.
Scania press releases are available on the Internet, www.scania.com
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