Volvo Geely deal signed off
Ford has finally shed Volvo Cars as final deal is signed with China's Geely groupVolvo Cars is fully in the hands of China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, as of today.
Geely announced that it had "signed a definitive stock purchase agreement with Ford Motor Company to acquire 100 per cent of Volvo Car Corporation and related assets (primarily intellectual property)."
Negotiations for the US$1.8 billion acquisition of 100 per cent of Volvo Car Corporation were completed today as the deal was signed off by Li Shufu, Chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, and Lewis Booth, Chief Financial Officer of Ford Motor Company.
Venue for the signing was Gothenberg, Sweden, in a ceremony attended by Li Yizhong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China and Maud Olofsson, Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Energy.
The Geely-owned Volvo Car Corporation will operate under the guidance of new COE and ex Volkswagen Group of America CEO Stefan Jacoby.
Geely says it will maintain Volvo's existing manufacturing facilities in Sweden and Belgium, and will look at new Chinese facilities to build Volvo cars for the fast-growing local market.
Volvo will continue as a separate company with its own management team based in Gothenberg, and with a new board of directors.
The Geely sale is the final shedding of acquired brands by Ford, and follows the sale of Land Rover to the Indian manufacturer Tata Motors in 2008, and Aston Martin in 2007. Volvo had been in Ford's hands for 11 years.
The transaction is expected to be competed in the third quarter of this year, following necessary regulatory approvals.
Speaking to the Carsales Network in March this year, Volvo's Australian managing director Alan Desselss said he did not expect the change of ownership to impact the local market in anything but a positive way.
"I think it's looking very, very good," he said. "We're very happy with the way things are moving here. We've certainly seen it grow year on year -- 2009 on 2008. One of few luxury car brands that have done that in Australia and we're very proud of that. We anticipate we'll see even further growth this year."
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