Following the announcement of Geely Holding Group’s owner buying a 9.7 percent stake in Daimler, the Chinese company said that they don’t intend on acquiring additional shares in the German company.
Li Shufu became Daimler’s single largest shareholder last week through open market purchases of shares, spending in total nearly $9 billion.
“Daimler is an outstanding company with a first-class management. It will be an honor to support this unique team under the leadership of Dieter Zetsche in the future,” said Li Shufu, chairman and owner of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. “I am particularly pleased to accompany Daimler on its way to becoming the world’s leading electro-mobility provider.”
Li Shufu also added that he’ll fully abide by the company charter and governance structure of Daimler.
Industry experts expect that Geely will be able to accelerate the negotiations for partnership with the German company, although Daimler did repeat its commitment to BAIC, one of its existing Chinese partners.
Li wants Geely and Daimler to work together in EV technologies and new mobility services, as Chinese manufacturers face increasing pressure from their local government in bringing electric vehicles to the masses.
However, with Daimler already being established in the Chinese market, these negotiations could take more time than usual. After all, BAIC and Daimler have recently announced their plans for a new factory in China to build Mercedes models.