Striking a much more conciliatory note a day after demanding Continental’s chairman step down immediately, Schaeffler said on Wednesday it wanted to sit together with all parties involved to find a "peaceful" solution to the simmering row.
One banking source confirmed there were no plans by Schaeffler – which has a 49.9% voting stake in Continental and has agreed to keep its stake below half until 2012 – to completely take over its bigger peer.
A source close to the company said speculation that Schaeffler had asked its banks to examine a full takeover of the much bigger Continental was not true.
The shares rose after the Handelsblatt daily said Schaeffler might junk its investor accord with Continental and seek complete control, violating the agreement crafted last year to end a bitter takeover battle.
A Schaeffler spokesman said the accord was legally binding.
That deal states Schaeffler can send up to four executives to the supervisory board of Continental, which is evenly split between representatives of shareholders and labour.
Continental was not available for comment but trade union IG BCE, a co-signatory of the deal, said the public row between the two companies had already led to a significant loss of confidence among the more than 100,000 Continental employees.
The IG Metall engineering union said it would not accept a breach of the investor agreement.
The deal that left Schaeffler Continental’s controlling shareholder was meant to usher in closer cooperation that would help the partners weather a sharp downturn in the auto industry, but ties have been marked instead by repeated bickering. (Tire Review/Akron)
