DaimlerChrysler Eyeing Volvo Truck

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - DaimlerChrysler AG is talking with Volvo AB about buying what's left of the Swedish automaker after the sale of its passenger car division to Ford Motor Co. last January, the business daily Dagens Industri reported Wednesday.

What's left is a lot: Volvo AB's profitable truck, bus, construction equipment, marine and aeronautical divisions.

Citing unnamed sources, Dagens Industri reported DaimlerChrysler is expected to bid around $17.7 billion and $18.9 billion, a hefty premium over Volvo's stock value of about $12.4 billion.

The premium stems from expectations the new company could save $1.2 billion a year, and because Volvo has about $5.9 billion in cash after the Ford deal, the paper reported.

Ford paid $6.45 billion for Volvo's passenger car division. DaimlerChrysler's offer was projected to consist of stocks, meaning Volvo's stockholders would become owners of 14 to 15 percent of DaimlerChrysler.

Headquarters for the planned subsidiary - tentatively called Mercedes Volvo Buses, Trucks & Heavy Equipment - would likely be located in Goteborg, Sweden.

If the reported deal goes through, Volvo was projected to sell its 22 percent stake in truck and bus manufacturer Scania, worth about $1.2 billion.

Rumors about a sale of the remainder of Volvo have surfaced before and with buyers other than DaimlerChrysler, the national newsagency TT reported.

Volvo spokesman Per Loejdkvist told TT he had no comment on the Dagens Industri report, but added: "Everyone is talking to everyone."

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