Geely May Soon Become Daimler’s Largest Shareholder

BY Brad Anderson | Posted on

Geely is reportedly planning to become Daimler’s largest shareholder, Germany’s Bild am Sonntag reports.

Talk of the Chinese carmaker purchasing a stake in Daimler isn’t new. In fact, the Germans turned down an offer from Geely to take a stake of up to 5 per cent via a discounted share placement last November. At the time, Daimler said Geely was welcome to buy shares in the open market. It appears the Chinese company is doing just that.

Daimler’s currently largest shareholder is the Kuwait Investment Authority, with 6.8 per cent. If these reports prove accurate, Geely could be on the verge of surpassing this figure. Daimler’s second largest shareholder is BlackRock with 6 per cent.

Automotive News reports that Geely is eager to get its hands on Daimler’s advanced electric car battery technology. Additionally, the brand is said to be keen in establishing an electric car joint venture with Daimler in Wuhan, China.

Geely already has a controlling stake in Volvo and Lotus, while Daimler has Chinese joint ventures with BAIC Motor Corp and BYD.

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  • brn

    Smart move on Geely’s part. Too bad for Daimler.

    • Сафиуллина-Мохамед Рамазанов

      Geely start doing to Daimler what Daimler did to Chrysler years ago

  • Bash

    What!!!!

  • SteersUright

    China sits on massive cash reserves, as we all know. They are already critically invested in the US market. I would not be surprised to see them diversify their portfolio by buying more and more storied European brands to whatever extent they can.
    Sadly, just as I thought their society was moving towards democratic principles and building a real middle class, I just saw a BBC special on how China is becoming a police state with advanced cameras everywhere that can find any citizen in minutes, while also retracing his/her steps for the past week. That’s some scary stuff. I hope the Chinese people themselves eventually tire of the oppressive government control and demand more freedoms.

  • sidewaysspin

    Who said the communists lost the cold war?