Schaeffler buys Vitesco: EV supply consolidation accelerates

In September 2021, Continental spun off its burgeoning electric mobility parts business into a new company, Vitesco. The dominant shareholder in Vitesco is the German Schaeffler family (the controlling shareholders in the Schaeffler industrial group). The family, which owned 49.99% of Vitesco after the spin-off (and also retained a 46% stake in Continental), is the driving force behind the plan to merge Vitesco into Schaeffler. It is offering minority shareholders a 21% premium to the Vitesco share price at the time of the offer in October 2023, or around a 52% premium on the Vitesco share price when it was spun off. The family will also sell its directly-held Vitesco shares to the Schaeffler company. The Schaeffler family’s stake in Continental derives from its attempted full take-over of Continental in 2008 which was finally abandoned in 2014. At that point Schaeffler owned 49.99% of Continental.