On August 6, Ford’s spokesman John Gardner confirmed to the outside world, “is negotiating with some potential investors to sell the company’s Volvo division, and the sale process will continue for some time.†His eyes once again focused on Geely, and this time, Li Shufu chose to be silent.
Volvo throws the Hydrangea
In the announcement of the above news, John Gardner also said that the sale negotiations are proceeding according to plan and no decision has been made at the moment. Gardner declined to disclose which companies are in contact with it and did not disclose further details of the negotiations.
According to statistics, from 1999, Ford spent 6.4 billion U.S. dollars to acquire Volvo, and its market price has already shrunk by half. Especially in the last year's economic crisis hit, Volvo's market performance is all the way down. Last year, Volvo’s car sales fell by nearly 26%, and this year, its financial data further deteriorated. In the first quarter alone, the loss amounted to 4.23 billion Swedish kronor (about US$ 510 million).
Some investment institutions pointed out that Volvo currently still owes Ford’s debt of USD 3.5 billion. In order to guarantee the normal operation of Volvo, Volvo needs a large amount of capital injection in the next five years. However, Ford, who is incapable of protecting himself, needs to “transmit†blood at this time. It is impossible to inject funds into Volvo. In desperation, Ford had to “strangulate his life†and sell his Volvo brand.
Since the beginning of this year, the market in North America and Europe has been sluggish. The Chinese market is thriving. Ford naturally wants to find a good home for Volvo. In April, after Ford's evaluation of Volvo was completed, the investment bank sent Chinese companies to sell Volvo.
Geely's sincerity
After learning that Volvo intends to “marry†China, several domestic auto companies such as Geely, Beiqi, Chang’an, and Chery are unable to suppress their inner impulse and have moved on with the idea of ​​acquisition.
However, of the three “pursuers†that Volvo has disclosed at present, except for one company from Europe, both foreign and domestic companies are from domestic companies, namely BAIC Holdings and Geely. From the market commentary, the support for the latter seems to be more.
An authoritative source close to the National Development and Reform Commission once stated that Geely Automobile is currently the only company in the Chinese auto companies that have acquired Volvo’s “sexy scandal†and filed with the National Development and Reform Commission for approval. Although the NDRC had different opinions on the matter internally, the NDRC returned the confirmation letter of consent to Geely. This is in contrast to Tengzhong’s previous acquisition of Hummer.
During the May 1st, Li Shufu personally led a negotiating team to go to Sweden. The purpose was to inspect Volvo and Saab. According to reports, in order to acquire Volvo, Li Shufu also hired Peter Zhang, a former chief financial officer of Volvo, and Peter Zhang, a BP, as advisors.
In fact, as early as 2007 when Geely participated in the Auto Show in Detroit, Li Shufu met with Ford Motor’s Chief Financial Officer Le Claire. Both parties discussed many issues including Volvo.
Today, Geely is already "three Volvo". Such "big action", it seems that Geely's speculation does not break. As for the progress of the matter, Wang Ziliang, Vice President of Geely Automobile, said, “There is no way to tell, but we will definitely continue to pay attention to this matter.â€
"Do not force"
In a recently released report on overseas acquisitions, Chinese companies’ overseas acquisitions have suddenly ranked second in the world. These actions include Geely's acquisition of Australia's automatic transmission company (DSI).
On March 27 this year, Li Shufu announced the successful acquisition of DSI without any knowledge of the outside world. He won a cheer from the outside world and “added weight†for Geely's transformation. According to commentators, the technology acquired is not only the most current and core automatic transmission production capacity and technology in China, but also complements Geely's existing technology. This case has accumulated skills for Geely's successful overseas acquisitions and has also tempered its global management experience.
At present, many people in the industry are optimistic about Geely's acquisition of Volvo. “It is said that many consortiums including BP have expressed their support. In addition, the old British investment bank Rothschild, who serves as the financial advisor for Geely's overseas operations, is also willing to help. Its power."
When Li Shufu previously expressed his opinions on the acquisition of Volvo, “We can better grasp the opportunities that emerged in the course of this incident, but we will not force it.â€
View related topics: China's auto industry recommence mergers and acquisitions wave
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