Bank's withdrawal raises takeover fears at DaimlerChrysler

Long-time DaimlerChrysler anchor shareholder Deutsche Bank sold more than a third of its shares Tuesday, cutting its stake in the automaker to less than 5 percent. The $1.26 billion transaction leaves the Emirate of Kuwait as DaimlerChrysler’s largest shareholder, with 7.2 percent. The bank’s departure leaves DaimlerChrysler as one of the few major carmakers without a dominant investor, which could make it a takeover target. Hedge funds currently hold between 10 and 15 percent of DaimlerChrysler, and there is a possibility of a hostile takeover to break it up. However, the sheer size of the carmaker (market capitalization of $53 billion) would make it a very difficult process.

By s.waterman@p1data.com
Get Autoblog in your Google feed
Preferred SourceGoogle Discover

Long-time DaimlerChrysler anchor shareholder Deutsche Bank sold more than a third of its shares Tuesday, cutting its
stake in the automaker to less than 5 percent. The $1.26 billion transaction leaves the Emirate of Kuwait as
DaimlerChrysler’s largest shareholder, with 7.2 percent.

The bank’s departure leaves DaimlerChrysler as one of the few major carmakers without a dominant investor, which could
make it a takeover target. Hedge funds currently hold between 10 and 15 percent of DaimlerChrysler, and there is a
possibility of a hostile takeover to break it up. However, the sheer size of the carmaker (market capitalization of $53
billion) would make it a very difficult process.