CORRECTED - Scania CEO sees no quick fusion with MAN - paper

(Corrects first paragraph to show VW is biggest shareholder in MAN, not majority shareholder)

STOCKHOLM, June 9 (Reuters) - Scania's (SCVb.ST) top executive on Monday poured cold water on a quick merger between the Swedish firm, majority owned by Germany's Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), and MAN (MANG.DE), where VW is the top shareholder.

MAN offered more than 10 billion euros ($15.8 billion) for Scania in late 2006, but was later forced to withdraw the bid due to opposition from Scania and VW. VW said it wanted a friendly deal, which might include its own heavy truck business.

"Every brand has its particular client base and that means that you have to keep the companies apart so as not to damage the brand," Chief Executive Leif Ostling said in an interview with Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet.

He said synergies in merger deals are almost always exaggerated.

"We have had many cooperation projects with MAN which didn't turn out as we had expected," he said.

"In one of the projects it was actually more expensive to harmonise operations."

VW and MAN Chairman Ferdinand Piech has said that a merger of MAN and Scania could generate around 1 billion euros of synergy benefits.

Ostling, who fought MAN's takeover bid, said his views on a quick merger were shared by the leadership of Volkswagen.

"They have exactly the same view of the question as I do," he said. "You can see their thinking in their car operations where they are very careful to keep the brands apart so that they don't canibalise each other."

Ostling's contract as chief executive was recently extended until 2012. (Editing by Quentin Bryar)