US consortium rivals Geely in bidding for Volvo: report
05 Oct 2009
The US-led Crown Consortium is confronting China's automaker Geely Automative in its bid to acquire Volvo, the Swedish loss making unit of Ford Motor Co, according to the Financial Times.
The UK-based newspaper said today that the Crown Consortium is led by a former director at Ford, Michael Dingman, who is a turnround specialist and Shamel Rushwin, a former executive with Ford and Chrysler.
Citing sources in the know of the matter, the paper said that the consortium has fully secured financing from private equity groups in the US, but is also seeking additional funding as a backup from Swedish investors in order to retain Volvo in the country.
Crown is talking to these potential investors about taking up to a one-third stake in the consortium.
Citing another source, the Financial Times said that the Crown Consortium's bid is far lower than Geely Automative's, but both potential buyers have said that they would make an additional investment of $3 billion in Volvo.
People close to the sale told the paper that Geely Automative was the more likely choice for Ford since it has made a larger bid, but Volvo could go to Crown Consortium if the US carmaker failed to reach a deal with Geely.
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