FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German luxury carmaker Daimler is preparing a stock market listing of its trucks division, business paper Handelsblatt reported, citing company sources.
The unit could be floated at the end of 2021, the sources said, adding division head Martin Daum is likely to get an early extension of his contract by three years as part of the plans, the paper added.
Speculation of a trucks listing has flared up regularly ever since Daimler initiated steps https://de.reuters.com/article/us-daimler-results-q2/daimler-considers-legal-split-in-strategic-overhaul-idUKKBN1AB0IA to form independent subsidiaries under its roof, eventually making it easier to spin them off and list them in the medium-term.
“The possibility of such a move was already known,” a local trader said, adding that while the news was positive for shares, a listing of the division at the end of next year was still a long way to go.
Shares in Daimler rose as much as 3.1% on the news.
A spokesman for the group declined to comment.
A possible listing of Daimler’s truck division would come after rival Volkswagen last year floated its trucks unit Traton to put the business on an independent footing.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Grant McCool and Maria Sheahan)
