China’s BAIC Group has launched its plan to become Daimler’s largest shareholder and win a board seat in the German car manufacturer, upstaging rival Geely at the same time according to the latest report.
Citing unnamed sources, Reuters reports that BAIC aims to double its current stake to around 10 percent by buying shares from the open market.
The Chinese state-owned BAIC Group is currently Daimler’s third largest shareholder, but if it increases its stake to 10 percent it will surpass Chinese rival Geely, which owns 9.69 percent of the German car maker.
Related: BAIC Reportedly Wants Even Bigger Stake In Daimler
In addition, the 10 percent stake will probably secure to BAIC Group a seat on Daimler’s supervisory board, something that Geely doesn’t currently have, according to the same sources.
HSBC, which advised BAIC Group on its earlier 5 percent stake purchase, is once again helping the Chinese car maker in its new venture. Daimler says that it had not received any notification about BAIC raising its stake currently, with the company’s China chief Hubertus Troska simply stating that “We welcome long-term investors in Daimler.”
When asked about BAIC and the possibility of becoming Daimler’s largest shareholder, Troska said: “We like each other. Let us see how things develop.”
Another source said that BAIC wants to become a bigger shareholder than Geely in Daimler in order to be seen as the German manufacturer’s most important partner in China.
The BAIC Group has been Daimler’s main partner in the country for years, running Mercedes factories in Beijing through their main joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive. The two partners reportedly plan to build Mercedes Benz-branded trucks through their commercial vehicle joint venture Foton Daimler Automotive.
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