TOKYO, Feb 20 Swedish truck maker Volvo said on Tuesday it would take over Nissan Diesel

TOKYO, Feb 20 (Reuters) Swedish truck maker Volvo said on Tuesday it would take over Nissan Diesel Motor for $1.1 billion, seeking to grow further in Asia and capitalise on the Japanese truck maker's technological expertise.

Volvo, the world's No. 2 truck maker which owns the Volvo, Renault and Mack truck brands, said the value of the tender offer was 7.5 billion Swedish crowns ($1.1 billion) but added it would also assume Nissan Diesel's net interest-bearing debt, estimated at another 7.5 billion crowns.

Volvo said it would benefit from Nissan Diesel's expertise in medium-heavy trucks and hybrid technology. Joint studies had shown the two firms would benefit from combined procurement and product development and working together on engines, it said, estimating annual savings at around 200 million euros ($260 million).

Truck makers around the world face growing competitive and cost pressures as they angle for expansion outside mature markets and race to meet stricter environmental regulations globally.

''Nissan Diesel's products and know-how represent a valuable complement to the Group's truck business,'' Volvo Chief Executive Leif Johansson said in a statement.

''Nissan Diesel has a solid position in Japan and the rest of Asia where the Volvo Group foresees substantial growth potential,'' he said.

The two companies plan a news conference at 3.00 p.m. (0600 GMT) in Tokyo, and another one later in Stockholm.

Volvo is also in talks with China's Dongfeng Motor Group Co.

to possibly replace Japan's Nissan Motor Co. as the Chinese truck maker's partner in making heavy and medium-duty commercial vehicles and engines.

Volvo, which currently owns 19 percent of Nissan Diesel, said it would offer 540 yen in cash for all the shares it does not own. That is a 22 percent premium to Monday's closing price and a 32 percent premium to Nissan Diesel's average price over the past three months.

Volvo, which is awash with cash, said it expects that payment could be made for acquired shares around March 29.

Shares in Nissan Diesel were untraded with a flood of buy orders early on Tuesday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange placed the truck maker on ''administrative watch'' based on Volvo's plans to make Nissan Diesel a wholly owned unit and delist it.

Japan's two other listed truck makers, Hino Motors Ltd. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. leapt 5.0 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, on what some analysts attributed to expectations of similar moves that would ease competition.

''I don't think a capital alliance between Isuzu and Hino is likely, but this could give rise to some form of tie-up in the truck segment,'' said Macquarie Securities analyst Toshisuke Hayami, noting the companies' existing collaboration in buses.

Volvo became the top shareholder in Nissan Diesel in March last year, replacing Nissan Motor. The move was also partly aimed at gaining a smooth entry into the burgeoning but tough-to-enter Chinese truck market.

Elsewhere, Volvo's Swedish rival Scania is expanding its cooperation with Japan's Hino -- a unit of Toyota Motor Corp. -- most recently through a distribution agreement in South Korea.

DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's top truck maker, has an 85 percent stake in Japan's unlisted Mitsubishi Fuso Truck&Bus Corp.

REUTERS CS DB1358