German court orders Volkswagen to pay MAN minorities 300 million euros

MUNICH (Reuters) - A German court has ordered auto maker Volkswagen AG's truck unit to pay 300 million euros (£265.4 million) to shareholders in MAN SE, ending a long-running court battle over its buyout offer.

Minority shareholders in MAN will receive a gross annual payment of 5.50 euros per share, which is 2.20 euros more than Volkswagen has paid.

They can also, within two months, hand over their shares in return for a payment of 90.29 euros each, MAN said in a statement. That compares to 80.89 euros previously offered by Volkswagen.

The ruling by the Munich Higher Regional Court, which confirms a lower court decision and is final, resolves a dispute dating back to a domination and profit transfer agreement signed in 2013 after VW acquired just over 75 percent of MAN's shares.

Volkswagen plans to rename its VW Truck & Bus unit Traton and is considering a stock market listing for the unit, which also owns Sweden's Scania, that could raise 6 billion euros or more.

Shares in MAN earlier closed 5 percent higher at 96.95 euros.

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Edmund Blair)