Navistar clears final regulatory hurdles to become part of TRATON

A merger more than five years in the making will finally be consummated Thursday when Navistar International Corp. becomes part of Volkswagen AG’s TRATON SE truck holding company.

As the ownership changes, Navistar is expected to keep its name and executive structure, albeit  reporting to TRATON CEO Mattias Gruendler.

All regulatory approvals needed to go ahead with the merger have been received, Navistar said Wednesday. TRATON made an unsolicited $2.9 billion bid for Navistar in January 2020. The pandemic slowed negotiations until last fall when TRATON twice upped its offer, finally agreeing to pay $3.7 billion in cash. 

Navistar (NYSE: NAV) stock has traded in a narrow range, rising and falling only pennies since shareholders approved the buyout. Navistar will be delisted following the merger and is expected to trade as part of TRATON (OTC: TRAFT), which owns Sweden’s Scania and Germany’s MAN truck manufacturers as well as Volkswagen’s Brazilian truck subsidiary.

First move in 2016

Navistar’s shareholders on March 2 approved the sale of about 83% of the company that TRATON did not already own for $44.50 a share. Volkswagen Truck & Bus, the predecessor to TRATON, purchased 16.6% of Navistar shares for $256 million in September 2016.