– Ford Motor Company said it will sell a portion of its ownership stake in Mazda Motor Corp., and the two companies will continue their successful strategic relationship. The ratio of Ford’s ownership of Mazda stock has been reduced from 33.4 percent to just over 13 percent.

– The action is in line with Ford’s plan to strengthen its balance sheet and ensure it has the resources to fund its product-led transformation plan focusing on the Ford brand worldwide.

– Under the new agreement, Ford and Mazda will continue their ongoing joint ventures, as well as the sharing of platforms and powertrains. Ford and Mazda’s nearly 30-year relationship has been and continues to be an effective way to utilize the resources of both organizations and maximize joint synergies. — The divestiture of Ford’s shares in Mazda will be accomplished both through the sale of shares to Mazda and the sale of shares to a group of Mazda’s strategic business partners.

Ford Motor Company today announced it has entered into an agreement to sell a portion of its stake in Mazda Motor Corp. and that the two companies will continue their successful strategic relationship that spans nearly 30 years.
In line with Ford’s plan to strengthen its balance sheet and ensure it has the resources to implement its product-led transformation plan focusing on the Ford brand worldwide, the company said it is reducing its stake in Mazda from 33.4 percent to just over 13 percent.
Under the agreement, the divestiture of Ford’s shares in Mazda will be accomplished both through the sale of shares to Mazda and the sale of shares to a group of Mazda’s strategic business partners. The sales of the Mazda shares will net Ford approximately $540 million.

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Cash-strapped General Motors Corp. will sell its entire stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. for 22.37 billion yen ($230 million), the automaker’s latest move to stay afloat while awaiting a decision on government aid for the industry.

Suzuki said Monday it would buy back the 3.02 percent stake from the American auto giant, which is seeking a $25 billion government lifeline, together with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, to weather the deepening economic crisis.

While the sale is indicative of GM’s near-term liquidity challenges, the proceeds are not very meaningful, Buckingham Research Group analyst Joseph C. Amaturo said in a note to investors.

“GM is expected to burn $4 billion to $5 billion in (the fourth-quarter) or roughly $1.5 billion per month. Hence, the cash proceeds from the sale of its equity stake will not even cover one week of expected cash burn,” Amaturo said.

Hit by the worst sales slump in more than 25 years and frozen credit, GM has warned that it might not survive through year’s end without the U.S. government’s financial support.

Hardline Republican opponents of an auto industry bailout have branded the industry a “dinosaur” whose “day of reckoning” is near, while Democrats pledged Sunday to do their best to get Detroit a slice of the $700 billion originally earmarked for a Wall Street rescue.

Suzuki said GM’s stake sale was necessary for the ailing American automaker to raise capital, but the Japanese company insisted it would continue a business partnership with GM.

“We fully understand the necessity for GM to raise cash,” Suzuki chairman and chief executive Osamu Suzuki said in a statement. He said he was in close contact with GM chief executive Rick Wagoner, and the two companies would keep joint projects, including the development of hybrid vehicles and a joint venture for sports utility vehicles in Canada.

The GM-Suzuki partnership dates to 1981 but those ties loosened after GM sold a 17 percent stake in Suzuki in 2006, leaving it with 3 percent.

GM lost $2.5 billion in the third quarter and warned that it could run out of cash in 2009 if the U.S. economic slump continues and it doesn’t get government help.

The automaker plans to lay off about 3,600 workers beginning early next year as it slows production at 10 of its assembly plants.

source:AFP

TOKYO – Denso Corp. said Thursday there is no truth to a report it plans to buy part of Ford Motor Co.’s (F) stake in Mazda Motor Corp. .

“While there were media reports about the stake purchase, it is not something the company has released and it is not true that we have made a concrete decision to purchase Mazda shares,” the core auto parts manufacturer within the Toyota Motor Corp. said in a statement.

The Nikkei reported earlier Thursday that Ford had asked Denso to purchase part of its stake in Mazda, and that Denso is likely to consider purchasing some of the shares.

source:cnn money

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.