Daimler under Chinese siege

[[MC]Ronin[MC]]

Chinese company BAIC wants to increase its stake to 10% to outperform other Chinese investor Geely.

 

 

Daimler's main partner in China has put in place a plan that it wants to acquire about 10% of the shares of the German concern, thus becoming the largest investor and gaining a place on the board of directors. In doing so, BAIC will replace the current largest investor in Daimler, Geely, who is also from the Celestial Empire, according to Reuters sources.

The state-owned Beijing Automobile Group Co Ltd (BAIC), which currently holds a 5% stake in Daimler, has started buying shares in the German concern. BAIC is currently the third largest shareholder, but a 10% stake will make it the largest, displacing Zhejiang Geely Holding Group from 9.69%. A share of about 10% would give BAIC a place on the board of directors, while with its 9.69% Geely does not have this privilege.

This desire by BAIC to overtake Geely may be driven by the desire to be perceived as Daimler's most important partner in China.

 

There are no comments from Chinese companies or HSBC. The head of Daimler in China said: "We like each other. Let's see how things develop. "

BAIC has been Daimler's main partner in China for years, managing Mercedes-Benz's Beijing plants through the Beijing Benz Automotive joint venture. Both brands intend to produce Mercedes trucks through another joint venture called Foton Daimler Automotive.

BAIC gained a 5% stake in Daimler this summer after Li Shufu, Geely's boss, managed to increase its stake to 9.69% in early 2018. This was surprising, even for the German concern itself.

Geely and Daimler then announced that they would set up a joint venture to produce the next generation of Smart electric cars in China.

Geely owns Volvo and holds a 49.9% stake in the Malaysian Proton brand, while BAIC, in addition to Daimler, partners with Hyundai Motor.