Nothing seems to be off-limits in the auto industry. There is a report from the Automotive News, which indicates that General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) and Ford Motor (NYSE: F) talked about some type of alliance. There is also the idea of a three-way alliance with GM, Renault SA and Nissan.

Well now there is some hostile activity in the auto sector. MAN AG, a Germany manufacturer of commercial vehicles, has made a $12.15 billion offer for Scania AB, a truck manufacturer in Sweden.

The combination would have a lot of heft, with 18.5 billion Euros in sales and operating profits of 1.4 billion. There is also likely to be lots of cost synergies. Something else: the two companies are fairly complementary. That is, MAN's strength is on trucks for short runs, whereas Scania is focused on long-journey trucks.

The new entity should also put more pressure on rivals, such as DaimlerChrysler and Volvo AB.

But the price was not enough to interest Scania, as its board rejected the offer. The two biggest shareholders include Volkswagen AG (34% stake) and Investor (29% stake), which is run by the Wallenberg family (one of the richest clans in Sweden).

Yes, this is old-fashioned negotiation at work. So expect the price to go north on this deal.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.

MAN's $12.15 buyout not manly enough originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.