Daimler develops strategy to fend off takeover

August 6, 2008 - 5:38 am ET

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) -- Daimler is working on a strategy to fend off possible takeover attempts, for instance finding an anchor investor who can block a full takeover, Financial Times Deutschland reported, without saying where it got the information.

Deutsche Bank is advising the company on this matter, the newspaper said.

German ball-bearings maker Schaeffler Group last month launched a surprise takeover bid for automotive supplier Continental and said it secured access to a total of 36 percent of Continental's shares without having to notify authorities.

The move, described by media and analysts as 'sneaking up,' has created speculation that other companies whose share prices have declined over recent months could become the target of takeover attempts.

'The supervisory board has very intensively discussed the topic of hostile takeovers,' FT Deutschland cited an unnamed supervisory board member of Daimler as saying.

Daimler's market value has declined about 45 percent to 36 billion euros since the start of this year. And media reports earlier this week said Swedish investor Cevian Capital may be buying shares in Daimler.

But Daimler has said it received no indication that any hedge fund investor is building up a position in the company.

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