VW joins the bidding battle for Rolls-Royce
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Your support makes all the difference.THE HEAD of Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, yesterday confirmed it had made an offer on Tuesday for Rolls-Royce. But Ferdinand Piech, VW chairman, speaking at yesterday's annual results conference, did not say how much it had offered Vickers.
BMW, which makes engines for Rolls-Royce, has said it also intends to bid. Daimler-Benz, which is developing its own luxury model, called the Maystadt, ruled itself out. Analysts believe Rolls could be worth as much as pounds 400m.
Mr Piech said in an interview that a response from Vickers could be received within a week. Volkswagen has long kept the market guessing about its interest in Rolls-Royce but British and German sources said this month that VW was close to a deal. Mr Piech declined to say how much the group had offered to pay but added: "I can say it is in line with what the selling party has offered."
Vickers, which wants to sell Rolls to focus on its defence and propulsion technology engineering, said the bidding would continue for another week or two. It would not say how many bids it had received. Other unconfirmed potential bidders, according to press reports, include Toyota.
"BMW is clearly likely to be the highest bidder," said Tony Lancelott, an analyst at Albert E Sharp. "I suspect VW put in a bid just to get BMW to pay a commercial price." BMW said the VW challenge for Rolls, which recently unveiled its first new model in 18 years, the Silver Seraph, would not affect its own plans, adding that it would bid "when the time is right."
BMW supplies the engine for the Seraph and has warned it will stop delivery if it cannot buy Rolls-Royce. Mr Lancelott said BMW would not want to lose its engine contract. The extra volume made a big difference to BMW's bottom line in the top-end engine business, he said.
A Daimler spokesman said: "We are not interested in Rolls-Royce and are not making a bid." - Agencies
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