While General Motors is still trying to figure out what it’s going to do with its Saab division, Ford Motor Company announced today that it has settled all substantive commercial terms with China’s Geely Holding Group Company Limited on the prospected sale of its Volvo unit.
Ford added that while some work still needs to be done before the deal is sealed such as final documentation, financing and government approvals, the company anticipates that a definitive sale agreement will be signed in the first quarter of 2010, with closing of the sale likely to occur in the second quarter of the same year.
“The prospective sale would ensure Volvo has the resources, including the capital investment, necessary to further strengthen the business and build its global franchise, while enabling Ford to continue to focus on and implement its core ONE Ford strategy,” Ford said in a statement,
The Detroit automaker added that it would continue to cooperate with Volvo Cars in several areas after the sale, but it does not plan to retain any shares in the business.
It is said that Geely is offering the U.S. automaker somewhere around $2 billion dollars for Volvo Cars which is less than a third of what Ford paid for the Swedish brand a decade ago.
With the prospected sale of Volvo, Ford will offload the last brand in the Premier Automotive Group that also included Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin.
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