It is a small revolution in the automotive world. The German automaker Daimler, inventor of the gasoline engine there are a hundred and thirty years, becomes part of chinese. Friday 23 February, the billionaire Li Shufu, owner of the automotive group of chinese Geely, has paid € 7.2 billion to enter the capital of Daimler, which he now holds a little less than 10 % of the units (9,69 %). Sign of a time when the people’s Republic has become the largest automotive market in the world, a chinese group becomes the largest shareholder of Daimler, himself the first premium manufacturer in the world.
For Geely, enter the capital of the Daimler represents a new trophy. The group, which builds cars for the last twenty years in China, has shown in recent years by a series of redemptions spectacular in the automotive sector. It has the manufacturer malaysian Proton, the brand of british sport Lotus, the manufacturer of london taxis, The London Taxi Company, as well as, the Swedish brand Volvo, since 2010.
In early February, it had announced its intention to enter the capital of the German manufacturer, with whom he is in negotiations for several months. He purchased the package of shares directly on the market. Things had hardly started between Daimler and Geely. Li Shufu, owner and founder of the group, is nicknamed in China as “the builder mad” since he tried to put on the market… a pale copy of a Mercedes, which had earned him a complaint of the German violation of the intellectual property.
Despite this episode, the relations between the two sides now seem set fair. Daimler is “delighted” on Friday night, the arrival in his capital of a shareholder “, which favours a long-term approach “. The precision is that of size. Unlike BMW, Daimler does not have, in its capital, a family…
