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FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) -- Continental's CEO Manfred Wennemer will today present to the company's supervisory board strategies to fend off an impending takeover by family-owned Schaeffler Group, including searching for a white knight bidder, Financial Times Deutschland reported, without citing sources.

Wennemer will propose that the supervisory board recommend that shareholders reject Schaeffler's 70.12 euro-per-share offer as too low and approve a capital increase to dilute Schaeffler's stake in the company, it said.

Schaeffler last week launched a takeover bid for Continental, but as it aims to acquire control of only 'more than 30 percent' of shares, the offer represents the legal minimum under German regulation.

Schaeffler has, however, already secured access to a total 36 percent of shares in Continental, which means it can gain control over the company even if the supervisory board recommends that shareholders reject the offer.

Financial Times Deutschland said Wennemer may also propose that Schaeffler limit its acquisition to a stake of less than 30 percent, in which case the supervisory board would no longer need to make a recommendation to shareholders.

At the same time, he has commissioned Goldman Sachs to find a white knight who could step in and buy a stake in the company that is large enough to block Schaeffler, but that is still below 30 percent, FT Deutschland said.