Autoblog

Report: China's SAIC Motors will buy shares of GM IPO

Zach Bowman — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:58:00 EST

Filed under: China, GM, Earnings/Financials

While General Motors may be jetting around the globe in an attempt to woo investors, one company has made it clear it wants to snap up plenty of GM stock once The General goes public. Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor President Chen Hong is currently in the States to negotiate with the American automaker about procuring GM shares. His company currently packs around $5.7 billion in cash or cash equivalents, so SAIC Motor shouldn't have any problem laying its hands on more than few GM shares.

SAIC has a history of working closely with GM in the past. The two companies have joined forces on everything from powertrain development to full name plates. If anyone knows the ins and outs of working with the biggest of the big three, it's these guys.

GM has announced that the company will go public once again on November 18 and plans to raise $10.6 billion in the process. Look for shares to go for anywhere between $26 and $29. GM will also offer $3 billion in preferred stock at the same time. Exactly how much of that goes to SAIC Motor remains to be seen.

[Source: Trading Markets via TTAC | Image: Phillippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images ]

Report: China's SAIC Motors will buy shares of GM IPO originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford in further talks with Shanghai Auto to sell Volvo

Frank Filipponio — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:59:00 EST

Filed under: China, Volvo, Earnings/Financials

The UK's Sunday Mail is reporting that Ford has returned to Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) to make another pitch to sell Volvo. As we told you back in June, SAIC is one of the leading contenders to snap up Volvo. Although Ford had long maintained the Swedish automaker was not for sale, it recently admitted it was entertaining offers for the firm. Having paid $6.4 billion for Volvo back in 1999, it is believed that Ford is now seeking around $6 billion for the company. That's a lot of renminbi.

Like the rest of the industry, Volvo is struggling in today's market with third-quarter sales down 24 percent. It has cut thousands of jobs and has even sought assistance from the Swedish government. Besides SAIC, Hyundai Motor Co. is still believed to be in the hunt for Volvo, as well as the Swedish government itself, although that seems unlikely.

If SAIC does end up in Chinese hands, it won't be their first experience building Volvos. The Chinese-market-only, long-wheelbase S80L is already being built at the CFMA Chongqing plant in China, but that is a unique partnership for now and it is unclear how the sale of Volvo to SAIC would affect that arrangement.

[Source: The Sunday Mail]

Ford in further talks with Shanghai Auto to sell Volvo originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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China's SAIC on the fast track to building a brand

Stuart Waterman — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 15:03:00 EST

Filed under: China, Plants/Manufacturing

China's biggest automaker announced Monday that it's injecting another $1.25 billion into its drive to export SAIC-brand vehicles worldwide. Monday's announcement follows February's news that the company had established a $460 million unit to build SAIC cars based on the Rover 25 and 75 models.

SAIC's new investment will fund five lines to build 30 new models by 2010, more than doubling the automaker's production in the process. By 2010, SAIC plans to sell over 200,000 of its own cars, including 45,000 sold overseas.

SAIC has faithfully followed the path established by many other Chinese technology-based enterprises, partnering with leading foreign companies in its domestic market to acquire competitive technologies, and buying intellectual property to jumpstart its own brands. A key partner in this process has been the Chinese government, which has mandated a minimum 50 percent Chinese ownership of any automotive venture established in China by foreign companies. Meanwhile, carefully crafted import tariffs have helped grow China's domestic auto parts manufacturers.

Now that the industrial infrastructure is in place, SAIC and other Chinese automakers are ready to take their show on the road. Just like their Japanese and Korean predecessors, they appear destined to become a permanent feature in the global automotive marketplace.

[Source: Reuters, Boston Herald]

China's SAIC on the fast track to building a brand originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 11 Apr 2006 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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