Dana Woos GKN Investors with Secondary Stock Listing Option

U.S.-based Dana Inc. is offering to make a secondary listing of its stock in London to cinch its $6.1 billion offer to buy British engineering firm GKN plc’s drivetrain business.

Dana’s financial director Jonathan Collins tells the Financial Times that such a listing is “absolutely an option” if needed to win over GKN institutional shareholders that are obliged to invest in U.K. equities.

Executives from the Ohio-based company have been touring the U.K. to bolster support for the merger. GKN’s board announced the would-be sale on Friday to thwart a hostile takeover bid by London-based Melrose Industries plc.

Dana has proposed to form a new company, Dana plc, that would be headquartered in the U.S. but domiciled for tax purposes in the U.K. The deal would create the transportation industry’s largest driveline supplier with annual sales of more than $14 billion.