German auto parts and tyre company Continental is prepared to discuss ceding a 20 percent stake to family-owned rival the Schaeffler Group, which is seeking to take over the firm, Continental boss Manfred Wennemer has said.
"Let us discuss a 20 percent share reasonably" he told his counterpart Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler in an interview with the weekly Der Spiegel to appear Monday.
He made a similar comment to the Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag, adding that anyone who wanted to take over Continental had to pay "a fair price."
On Wednesday, Wennemer attacked what he called "unlawful" measures that Schaeffler allegedly used in an attempt to increase its holding in the group.
Schaeffler has said that it is sure of raising its holding to more than 30 percent, mainly through a series of share swaps that do not have to be declared to the stock market authority.
It has offered 69.37 euros a share, way below Continental's market price of more than 73 euros.
Officially, Schaeffler owns just 2.97 percent of Continental, just below a declaration threshold of 3.0 percent in a group that is almost three times bigger than it.
In his interview with Der Spiegel Wennemaker accused Schaeffler of "holding a pistol to our head," and hit out at Dresdner Bank and Merril Lynch, which allegedly aided Schaeffler in its bid.
Continental has rejected the Schaeffler offer as "highly opportunistic" and a company source said the group's supervisory board would meet next Wednesday to discuss possible responses.
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