Honda-Acura.net - Major DaimlerChrysler shareholders receive buyout offers in bid to split up company

DaimlerChrysler AG's largest shareholders have been approached by private equity firms about acquiring their stakes in a bid to breakup the automaker, the Financial Times reported in Friday's edition.

DaimlerChrysler refused comment Friday on the report.

The London-based newspaper, citing an unidentified senior investment bank official, said that the Stuttgart-based automaker's major shareholders, including Deutsche Bank and the Kuwait Investment Authority, have been approached about selling their stakes several times.

Deutsche Bank is the German-U.S. carmaker's leading investor with a 10.4 percent stake, while the Kuwait Investment Authority holds a 7.2 percent stake.

The paper said that both companies had rejected the offers.

A call to Deutsche Bank was not immediately returned Friday.

Shareholders and fund managers have criticized DaimlerChrysler for its recent earnings slide and quality problems at its Mercedes division, singling out Chief Executive Juergen Schrempp with demands that he step down.

Shares of DaimlerChrysler were up 0.09 percent to 31.88 euros ($40.87) in Frankfurt trading Friday.

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