Following the earlier intimation that it might do so, Ford has officially announced that it is reducing its stake in Mazda to 3.5% from the 11% it currently owns, with the transaction expected to be completed by today.
The 7.5% will be transferred to Mazda’s business partners via off-auction trading through the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Ford’s decision to reduce its ownership stake in Mazda will allow it to increase flexibility as it continues to pursue growth in key emerging markets, specifically in China.
The US automaker, which will now be Mazda’s fourth-largest stakeholder after the sale, took a 25% stake in Mazda in 1979 and gained management control in 1996 when it increased its shareholding to 33.4%. In late 2008, in an effort to raise cash, Ford’s share in Mazda was reduced to 13%, and the stake dropped to 11% last year when Mazda issued new shares.
Both companies have agreed to continue their strategic partnership. “Ford will remain one of Mazda’s largest shareholders with a 3.5% stake, and both companies are committed to continuing our strategic partnership which spans over 30 years, and will continue to collaborate on areas of mutual benefit such as key joint ventures, joint projects and exchange of technology information,” Mazda’s CEO Takashi Yamanouchi said in a statement.
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Ooo… so looks like they will loose their place as the automotive placing in the world since they can no longer count Mazda vehicles into their numbers….. Wonder how many placing will they fall behind.
So I guess it’s Hyundai 1 up.
11% was already the biggest share holder…. so MAZDA is actually divided by many many small pieces~~ so many investor kah??
Mazda is a public listed company, so it’s normal for public listed companies to have tens if not hundreds of thousands of investors… in a public listed company, owning 5% share is already enough to consider you as a substantial shareholder…
Japan is a very closed society, I am actually suprised that they allowed ford that much of a share in the first place. In the end, Mazda cars surpassed their ford counterparts in the global market, especially in customer satisfaction surveys. Ford is not the globally glorious corporate citizen that you might think. Hyundai was a slave to Ford in the early 1970’s. In fact, the Hyundai factory that was built to make Ford Cortinas still holds the internal world record of any factory from the conception to roll out stage of any Ford model. Even though the Koreans had come of age, Ford refused Hyundai equal access to its global markets. Chung Ju Yung once famously remarked that one day, his products will hold their heads high against any Ford model. Not yet, but definitely not far behind!!!!!