Ford asks Denso’s Toyota parts-maker to buy its Mazda shares

US auto giant Ford Motor Co. has asked Denso Corp., a core autoparts manufacturer within Toyota Motor Corp., to buy part of its stake in Mazda Motor Corp., a report said Thursday.

Denso, which wants to expand the current business ties with Mazda to which it sells auto parts, is likely to consider purchasing some of the shares, the business daily Nikkei reported, without citing sources.

Mazda, Japan’s fifth largest automaker, is believed to have already approached Denso about buying some of the Mazda stock that Ford holds, it said.

Reports last week said Ford, Mazda’s biggest shareholder with a 33.4-percent equity, plans to sell most of its shares in Mazda to raise badly needed cash amid the current global financial crisis.

The stake in Mazda that Denso would acquire is likely to total less than one percent of Mazda’s total outstanding stock, the Nikkei said.

Officials at Mazda and Denso were not immediately available for comment.

The Nikkei reported that Ford had approached between 20 and 30 prospective buyers for its shares in Mazda. Trading houses Sumitomo Corp and Itochu Corp have expressed interest, the newspaper said.

Mazda may also buy back some of its own shares, it said.

Mazda’s shares were down 4.6 percent at 272 yen, outperforming a 9.8 percent fall in the benchmark Nikkei average .N225. Denso shares were 8.9 percent lower at 1,818 yen.

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