Volkswagen explores stock sale in truckmaker Traton, Bloomberg reports

(Reuters) -Volkswagen is exploring the sale of as much as1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) worth of stock in its heavy truckmaking arm Traton SE, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The German automaker is talking to potential advisers about the stake sale to institutional investors via an accelerated bookbuilding deal as soon as the next few weeks, the report added.

The potential 1 billion euros share sale represents a near 6% stake in Traton, according to market cap data from LSEG.

The size of the offering could be between 500 million euros and 1 billion euros depending on market conditions, according to the report.

Volkswagen declined to comment.

The trucking sector is bracing for a bumpy year with analysts flagging lower demand in Europe and North America after post-pandemic demand helped the industry last year.

Traton, which manufactures Scania, MAN, Navistar,

and Volkswagen trucks and buses, forecast a steady 2024 return on sales after its core earnings in March almost doubled on pent-up post-pandemic demand for commercial vehicles.

($1 = 0.9270 euro)

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Jonathan Oatis)