Volvo sale confirmed
March 28, 2010
After two years of negotiations, a deal has been signed by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group that confirms its takeover of Volvo.
Volvo had been a part of the American Ford Motor Group since 1999.
The takeover deal was signed by Ford's financial director Lewis Booth and Geely's president Li Shufu on Sunday at Volvo's headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Geely gets a bargain
The reported price tag of Volvo is around $1.8 billion (1.35 billion euros), considerably less than the $6.4 billion Ford paid for Volvo in 1999.
That would make it the biggest purchase by a Chinese car manufacturer.
Volvo had been operating at a loss, and Ford hopes to use the money made in the deal to focus on its core brands in the United States. Geely, meanwhile, has been looking to increase its stake in the European market for some time.
mz/AFP/AP/Reuters
Editor: Sonia Phalnikar