Germany's Conti agrees to sweetened takeover bid

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BERLIN (AFP) — After weeks of hard bargaining, German tyre maker Continental finally said yes on Thursday to the advances of compatriot Schaeffler to create a new auto parts giant.

But family owned Schaeffler had to raise its offer to 75 euros (111.15 dollars) per share from 70.12 euros and has had to pledge not to own more than 49.99 percent in Continental for four years, a Continental statement said.

The new offer values Continental, which is still digesting a major acquisition it made last year, at over 12 billion euros, nearly 40 percent more than it was worth before Schaeffler made an unsolicited original bid in July.

Together the two companies have yearly sales of 35 billion euros and 215,000 employees, overtaking Bosch as the world's top supplier of...