Continental, a German tyres-to-brakes manufacturer, has turned to the investment banking advice of Goldman Sachs to help it buy Phoenix, a Hamburg-based rubber car parts manufacturer.

The company plans to launch a bid of €227m ($276m) - or €15 per share - for Phoenix. It has already secured acceptances worth just over 37% from the company's two major shareholders. Claas Daun, the chairman of Phoenix's supervisory board, has a 22.28% shareholding and WestLB, the German state bank, has a 14.83% stake which it has held since 1991.