By Andres Gonzalez, Alexander Hübner and Christina Amann
LONDON/MUNICH/BERLIN Feb 27 (Reuters) – Volkswagen
The disposal would rank among the largest carve‑outs by a European company this year, underscoring how major corporates are accelerating efforts to streamline their portfolios. The shift is creating a steady pipeline of non‑core but high‑quality assets for buyout funds to acquire, which are eager to deploy capital amid a rebound in dealmaking.
Private equity firms including Brookfield, CVC, Blackstone are among those that have submitted bids for the unit that produces shipping engines and heat pumps, as these investors seek industrial businesses unlikely to face disruption from artificial intelligence, the two sources said. Japanese diesel engine manufacturer Yanmar also submitted a bid, according to a fourth person. Porsche SE, Volkswagen’s biggest shareholder, is considering investing in Everllence, the FT previously reported. The four people spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. One of the sources said binding offers are expected in the next six weeks.
Volkswagen asked parties to submit bids in mid-February and notified recently some of them that they were advancing to the second round, two of the sources said.
Volkswagen declined to comment and has said previously the company was reviewing strategic options for the business. Porsche SE, the holding firm of the Porsche and Piech families declined to comment. Yanmar declined to comment. Blackstone, CVC and Brookfield declined to comment.
($1 = 0.8473 euros)
(Reporting by Andres Gonzalez in London, Alexander Huebner in Munich and Christina Amann in Berlin. Additional reporting by Christopher Steitz. Editing by Anousha Sakoui, Elisa Martinuzzi)
