Mumbai : Bajaj Auto International Holdings BV is in talks to offload its 48 per cent stake in Austria-based KTM AG to its parent company KTM Industries AG, which is Europe's biggest sport motorcycles producer.
"KTM Industries AG was informed by Pierer Industrie AG and Bajaj that they have started discussions on assessing the possibility of transferring Bajaj's 48 per cent stake in KTM AG to KTM Industries AG, with Austrian industrial investment group Pierer Group continuing to retain the controlling majority over KTM Industries AG," Bajaj Autoinformed Indian stock exchanges on Thursday in regulatory filings.
At present, Pierer Industrie holds about 62 per cent of shares in KTM Industries, which holds nearly 51.7 per cent of shares in KTM AG. Bajaj holds the rest 48 per cent of KTM shares.
The talks come after Volkswagen’s plan to sell the iconic Ducati brand following the recent diesel-gate scandal. However, following opposition from the labour union, the company cannot go ahead with the sale.
Industry experts say that these issues are expected to be sorted soon and Bajaj could later in 2019 be the owner of Ducati, considered as ‘the Ferrari of the motorcycle industry.’