Business

Volvo sold to China's Geely
by Magdalena Rosova

On Sunday Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the largest privately run carmaker in China, finally came to a deal with Ford about buying Ford Motor's brand Volvo. Because of the crisis Swedish brand Volvo suffered from many losses. Ford will sell the brand for 1.8 billion dollars, the sell will be the biggest overseas auto purchase in Sweden. Volvo Cars spokesman Per-Aake Froeberg confirmed that a final agreement on the sale had been signed at 2.40 pm. The negotiations were held at Volvo headquarters in Gothenburg. The deal was signed by Ford's financial director Lewis Booth and president of Geely Li Shufu. Both sides confirmed that the sale was for 1.8 billion dollars. The! price is less than a third of the sum that Ford paid for Volvo Cars in 1999. Ford announced that it was planning to sell the troubled Volvo Cars to China's biggest private carmaker already in December last year. Ford agreed on the main terms of the sale. Ford was associated with the Swedish brand, well known for its family-friendly cars for a decade. Volvo Cars has about 16,000 employees in Sweden and about 4,000 employees all around the world. Volvo unions are against the deal saying it was vague on expansion plans and possibility of layoffs. Three Volvo unions released news in which they explained reasons for their opposition to the deal. But for unknown reason on Saturday they announced they are satisfied with the deal. Evidently, there is no more obstacle for the deal between Ford and Geely and the Chinese automaker can finally takeover the Swedish company.

related story (sgx16868): http://www.thelocal.se/25784/20100328/...
by Magdalena Rosova
for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)
Cantell TV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with telecommunications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface coupled with free phone calls. Cantell TV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers.

posted by Blog TechSource @ 3:33 PM