Volvo says plans to sell Governmental Sales unit

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish truck maker Volvo (VOLVb.ST) said on Friday it planned start a process to sell its Governmental Sales unit following a strategic review of the business.

Governmental Sales, which has most of its about1,300 employees in France, manufactures and sells especially designed vehicles to governments, the defence industry, peacekeeping forces and aid organizations.

The units sales correspond to around 1.5 percent of total Volvo Group sales. Volvo had sales of 313 billion Swedish crowns (28 billion pounds) in 2015.

"There are great opportunities to grow the business even further, however, we believe that a new owner may be better placed to take the business to the next level. Consequently, we intend to start preparations to divest the business," Volvo CFO Jan Gurander said in a statement.

Volvo said the initiation of a divestment process was subject to the finalising of mandatory consultations with staff representative bodies.

(Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom)