[19 Dec] Schaeffler to Limit Continental Cap Increase to 30M Shares

Continental AG's planned capital increase could be smaller than expected, German daily Handelsblatt reports Friday, citing unnamed sources.

The German auto parts supplier's major shareholder, Schaeffler Group, wants to limit the number of new shares to around 30 million, as it fears the issue of more than that amount of shares could dilute its stake in the company, Handelsblatt reports.

Continental had said it wants to raise EUR1 billion to EUR1.5 billion in fresh funds through the capital increase.

In light of the current share price, a low number of issued shares mightn't be enough to bring in the required EUR1 billion and, in a worst-case scenario, could harm the company's badly needed refinancing, the paper says.

"Nothing has been decided yet," the paper quotes a Schaeffler spokesman as saying.

A Continental spokesman declined to comment on the report when contacted by Dow Jones Newswires. Schaeffler Group wasn't immediately available for comment.

(Source: irco.biz)