Geely owner becomes Daimler's biggest shareholder

Mercedes-Benz's parent company, Daimler, has announced that the chairman and majority owner of China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has acquired a 9.69 per cent stake in its business.

According to Daimler, Li Shufu's investment in the company makes the Chinese billionaire its single biggest shareholder.

Thought to have cost almost $US9 billion ($A11.5 billion), the share buying frenzy of the Stuttgart-based car, truck and van maker occurred over a period of weeks rather than days.

Raising plenty of eyebrows from industry pundits, Li's billion-dollar purchase of shares in Mercedes-Benz was described by Daimler itself as a 'personal investment' rather than being directly linked to the Chinese car giant he happens to own.

All the more coincidental are unconfirmed reports that Geely tried to purchase a five per cent stake in Daimler as recently as November last year.

It's rumoured that Geely has been seeking an alliance that will see Daimler share its pure-electric car tech.

Back in late 2017, Daimler refused the offer, say sources.

Beginning life back in the mid-1980s as a refrigerator manufacturer, Geely hit the headlines in 2010 when it snapped up Volvo from Ford.

Since then, its buying spree has continued with the purchase of a controlling interest in Lotus Cars and its on-going deal to purchase a larger stake in Malaysian car-maker, Proton.

Geely also bought the maker of London's iconic black cabs and even snapped up Terrafugia -- the American start-up intent on developing flying cars.

As well as purchasing other European car-makers, the Chinese giant will soon launch a new brand in Europe later this year when it introduces LYNK & Co, which will share platforms, engines and transmissions with Volvo and aims to democratise car-sharing.