Traton says revised takeover bid for Navistar expires on Friday

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen's <VOWG_p.DE> truck unit Traton <8TRA.DE> said on Wednesday its revised takeover bid of $43 per share for U.S. truck maker Navistar International Corp <NAV.N> will expire on Oct. 16, if not accepted by then.

Shares of Navistar fell as much as 21.3% to over one-month low of $35, following the news.

Last month, Traton raised its January bid by $8 per share to $43 per share, but Navistar rejected the proposal, saying it significantly undervalued the company.

"Our findings in due diligence lead us to believe that our price of $43 per share fully values the company," Traton on Wednesday said in a letter addressed to Navistar's board.

Traton has struggled to win over Navistar's largest shareholder, billionaire activist Carl Icahn, whose fund held 16.8% stake in the U.S. truck maker, as of June 30, according to Refinitiv Eikon Data.

Icahn's share is only slightly more than Traton's parent Volkswagen, which owned about 16.7% of Navistar's stock as of Sept. 10.

The German automaker made a $35 per share offer in January to increase its stake in Navistar above the 16.6% it bought in 2016, but failed to secure a majority stake.

Icahn and two other activist funds, Mark Rachesky's MHR Fund Management and Gabelli Funds, together own about 40% of Navistar's shares, according to Refinitiv data.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Edward Taylor and Shinjini Ganguli)