Ford Sells Mazda Shares

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ASH8
FORD SELLS A PORTION OF ITS STAKE IN MAZDA; TWO COMPANIES WILL CONTINUE STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP

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.

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DEARBORN, Mich., November 18, 2008 – 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.

“This agreement allows Ford to raise capital that will help fund our product-led transformation, and at the same time, allows Ford and Mazda to continue our successful strategic relationship in the best interest of both companies,” said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. “Ford will continue to focus on the Ford brand worldwide and deliver the products our customers really want and value.”

Ford and Mazda will continue their ongoing joint ventures, as well as the sharing of platforms and powertrains. Ford will remain Mazda’s largest shareholder and will maintain a seat on Mazda’s Board of Directors.

“The sale of Mazda shares by our partner, Ford, will not result in any change in Mazda’s strategic direction and we will continue to accelerate our product-led brand improvement and cost innovation initiatives,” said Mazda Chairman, President and CEO Hisakazu Imaki. “We will continue our strategic relationship through our ongoing joint ventures with Ford, as well as the sharing of platforms and powertrains.”
 
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It is interesting to see that Ford selling 20% of its stake in Mazda. Ford bought that stake over the course of several years to help Mazda out of its slump.

Too bad Mazda is only getting just under 7% back directly. The rest is going to be bought up by Mazda's business partners.

However, I would argue that this move is not a good sign for Ford and that the Big 3 might not be so "big" nor "3" for much longer.
 
Pointless, but good

Better Mazda is away from Ford now I say, now that it's a small but profitable brand. It won't help Ford much anyway; as someone said, the Detroit 3 have such a cash burn rate that not much will help them. If Washington loans them $25B it will be more money down the rat hole.

They have had, what, 20 years to get their s*** together and done nothing. Raise your hand if you saw this coming years ago:
1) ever higher gas prices
2) thus, a greater need for more fuel efficiency for new models
3) Smaller, lighter, more practical vehicles
4) R&D money put NOT into heavy retro styled cars and trucks
 
Better Mazda is away from Ford now I say, now that it's a small but profitable brand. It won't help Ford much anyway; as someone said, the Detroit 3 have such a cash burn rate that not much will help them. If Washington loans them $25B it will be more money down the rat hole.

They have had, what, 20 years to get their s*** together and done nothing. Raise your hand if you saw this coming years ago:
1) ever higher gas prices
2) thus, a greater need for more fuel efficiency for new models
3) Smaller, lighter, more practical vehicles
4) R&D money put NOT into heavy retro styled cars and trucks

These four points could also bve used to describe Toyota. The Prius is an oddball in their product line filled with huge RAV4s, retro stlyed FJ Cruisers, unreliable Avalons and so on.
 
These four points could also bve used to describe Toyota. The Prius is an oddball in their product line filled with huge RAV4s, retro stlyed FJ Cruisers, unreliable Avalons and so on.

You might want to look at the fuel economy on a RAV4 before you pass judgment. The least efficient model--a V6 with 4WD--gets 19 mpg in the city. There's not another V6 SUV that can come close to that.

Other than the Sequoia and Land Cruiser, which you didn't even mention, their cars are among the most fuel efficient in each segment they've entered.
 
You might want to look at the fuel economy on a RAV4 before you pass judgment. The least efficient model--a V6 with 4WD--gets 19 mpg in the city. There's not another V6 SUV that can come close to that.

Other than the Sequoia and Land Cruiser, which you didn't even mention, their cars are among the most fuel efficient in each segment they've entered.

Not to mention they have 6 offerings (Yaris, carolla, matrix, Scion XB, XD, and XC) in the compact catagories and GM has only 4, one of which is a toyota (Vibe) and two are complete clones, the Cobalt and G5.
 
Bridgestone and Pansonic Among Mazda Share Buyers

Would that mean at least they'll put better OEM tires and OEM Radios this time? LOL

NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Bridgestone Corp and general contractor Kajima Corp were among more than 30 companies that bought the 13 percent stake in Mazda Motor Corp sold by Ford Motor Co, the Nikkei financial daily reported.

The report on Nikkei's website said that Mazda bought 6.8 percent of its outstanding shares from Ford for 17.9 billion yen on Wednesday, adding that Ford's interested in the Japanese company has declined to about 13 percent from 33.4 percent.

Nippon Life Insurance Co, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co , Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and Hiroshima Bank each bought 1 percent of the shares, according to the report on Nikkei's website. Among other companies that bought shares, the report said that business partners such as Kajima, Bridgestone, wire producer Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd and Panasonic Corp bought stakes of 0.25 percent each.


Source:
http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/11/19/afx5715791.html
 
**Fingers crossed for Bridgestone hookup through Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development.**

I could use me a cheap set of the new RE11s when they come out. :p
 
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