TRW Up 7% On Rumored German Takeover For Up To $12 Billion

TRW Automotive TRW shares swung wildly higher Thursday on a rumor that it may be acquired for $11 billion to $12 billion by ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

Talks may not lead to a deal and an agreement could be more than a month away, according to Bloomberg, which cited anonymous sources.

TRW's largest customer is Volkswagen AG, Bloomberg noted, and the outlook for TRW has improved recently.

German-based ZF's 2013 sales were nearly $23 billion compared with TRW's $17.4 billion.

If the deal materializes it would be the largest in the industry since 2007, when Germany's brake maker Continental acquired Siemens AG's VDO Automotive unit for about $11.4 billion, Bloomberg said.

TRW traded recently for $97.79 per share, up 6.8  percent.