Report: VW Seeks Swedish Investors for Traton Truck IPO

Volkswagen AG is pursuing several Swedish investment funds to become founding shareholders of Traton AG, the commercial truck company it plans to list in April, sources tell Reuters.

The talks involve AMF, AP Fund 1, AP Fund 4, Folksam and Investor AB, according to the sources. Each fund is being invited to become “cornerstone investors” buy acquiring stakes worth €150 million-€300 million ($171 million-$342 million) ahead of the initial public offering.

Traton consists of VW’s Scania, MAN and VW-brand commercial truck businesses. VW plans to retain a majority stake when the group goes public.

Reuters notes that the cornerstone strategy, which bolsters the attraction of an IPO by demonstrating investor preapproval, is popular among Nordic companies. The news service says VW expects to sell shares worth at least €5 billion ($5.7 billion) in an IPO that would give Traton a market value of at least €20 billion ($22.8 billion)