• Get ready for the 'monster lorries'
• Sales of Volvo trucks doubled in Europe

France’s second-largest carmaker Renault SA has sold a 14.9 percent stake in Swedish truckmaker Volvo AB for 3 billion euros ($4.2 billion).

The shares were sold in a private placement. However, Renault did not identify who bought the stock.

Swedish industrial holding firm Industriväden, Volvo’s second biggest owner after Renault, said Thursday it's not interested in buying the stake. Businessman Christer Gardell told Bloomberg that his fund Violet Partners LP, the third biggest owner, wasn’t the buyer.

The French company clearly managed to take advantage of a surge in the Swedish truckmaker’s shares in a move to pay down debt. Volvo's shares has gained more than 50 percent since the turn of the year as global demand has recovered.

“It’s difficult to see it any other way than positively for Renault,” Mike Tyndall, a London-based automotive specialist at Nomura Securities, told Bloomberg. “We knew it would come to market at some point, but the timing is a surprise.”

Volvo Group, the world's second-biggest maker of heavy vehicles, said last month that total deliveries from its truck operations in August swelled by 62 percent compared with the year-earlier. In July sales increased 62 percent.

However, Renault will retain all of its “A” shares in Volvo, making up 6.8 percent of the company’s capital and 17.5 percent of its voting rights. The company sold all of its Series “B” shares. At the height of the global economic downturn, Renault had dropped hints that it might sell non-essential assets to improve its cash position.

"The placement "allows Renault to swiftly bring automotive debt back into line with our targets, while keeping our A shares and retaining our position as a core shareholder," Renault Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said.

That still leaves Renault as Volvo's biggest single shareholder, ahead of Industrivärden.

Renault has held the shares since 2001 as a result of the sale of its truck business to Volvo AB in order to reduce borrowings.

Volvo shares were down 3.50 percent in Stockholm morning trading following the announcement. Shares in French auto group Renault jumped 8.0 percent.