By Aaron Kirchfeld
Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Schaeffler Group said it wasn’t trying to interfere in Continental AG’s business when it sent a letter to banks renegotiating loans with the German car supplier it’s acquiring.
“The intention of the letter was not to influence Continental AG’s business management,” Schaeffler spokesman Detlef Sieverdingbeck wrote in an e-mailed statement today. Continental Chief Executive Officer Karl-Thomas Neumann said yesterday he was “irritated” at the “massive interference” in the bank talks after Schaeffler CEO Juergen Geissinger sent the letter to the lenders.
Continental, Europe’s second-largest car-parts maker, anticipates higher financing costs as it renegotiates 10.8 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in loans taken out last year to purchase Siemens AG’s former VDO component division.
The talks between Hannover-based Continental and banks on the VDO loans included conditions that could “significantly hurt” the company and its shareholders, Sieverdingbeck said. This would have a direct impact on Schaeffler, the largest shareholder, he added.
Schaeffler’s letter was strictly intended to avoid the risk that such agreements would be made between Continental and the banks, he said. “It can’t be considered a violation against the spirit of the investor agreement,” Sieverdingbeck said. The ball-bearing maker is based in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kirchfeld in Frankfurt at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net
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