Aiming to expand their battery tech, mostly.
Chinese automotive conglomerate Zhejiang Geely, the parent company of marques like Volvo, Lotus, and PROTON, are now aiming to take on a sizeable portion of German automotive conglomerate Daimler, reports German publication Bild am Sonntag. This comes after the German party rejected a previous offer by Geely to purchase some 5% of the company (what would have been the third-largest single shareholding) via a discounted share placement.
Daimler AG’s most closely associated business is the manufacturing of Mercedes-Benz, AMG, and Smart cars, among a variety of other automotive-related concerns.
Geely has been looking to expand its reach into battery technology, which is the primary concern for them as they seek to acquire a stake in Daimler. Further, a tie-up with Daimler would pave the way for a joint-venture in Wuhan, China, to build electric vehicles for the local market there, sources have said to Automotive News.
If the acquisition is pegged at 5%, that would make Geely the third-largest single-shareholder in Daimler AG, after sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority (that owns 6.8%), and the BlackRock investment group (that owns 6%).
Stay tuned to CarShowroom as we bring you more updates as they come.
