Rheinmetall not currently negotiating with VW over Osnabrueck site, CEO says

BERLIN (Reuters) -Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said on Thursday that the German defence company is not currently negotiating with carmaker Volkswagen about its factory in Osnabrueck.

Volkswagen said last year it was exploring alternative scenarios for the site's future use, raising hopes for a sale that could protect workers and save the carmaker restructuring costs.

Whether Rheinmetall invests in the factory depends on a special contract, he told a foreign journalists association.

"At the moment, we are not negotiating further because the plants we have currently established at Rheinmetall have sufficient capacity for the orders we have received and those that are in the pipeline," he said.

Papperger visited the factory earlier this year to determine whether it would be a good fit for a conversion to military production.

Rheinmetall has said that it would repurpose some of its automotive sites to mostly make defence equipment in an effort to move away from its loss-making civilian division and take advantage of a defence spending boom.

The company could also take over plants from automakers like Volkswagen - if the conditions are right, Papperger has previously stated.

Rheinmetall has been growing rapidly and investing in new plants and acquisitions as European countries put billions of euros towards defence following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The company is currently expanding its capabilities by acquiring the Luerssen Group's warship division, NVL, and establishing its own naval division.

Papperger said on Thursday that no further acquisitions to strengthen the naval business are currently planned.

(Reporting by Miranda Murray and Matthias Inverardi; editing by Matthias Williams and Jane Merriman)