Filed under: Japan, Ford, Mazda, Earnings/Financials


Ford
has announced that it will reduce its stake in Mazda from 11 percent to 3.5 percent by November 19. The move is part of the Blue Oval's plan to slim its belt line and become a more flexible company in the future. Of course, drumming up the kind of cash comes from selling off 7.5 percent of Mazda likely isn't hurting anyone's feelings in Dearborn, either. The stock will be sold to a number of other Mazda business partners through the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Even so, Ford will remain the biggest Mazda shareholder at 3.5 percent.

Ford has had a long history of partnership with the Japanese automaker. The two joined forces in 1979 when FoMoCo snapped up a seven-percent stake in Mazda, and by 1997, Ford had a controlling interest in the company with a 33.9-percent stake. But when the 2008 automotive implosion hit, Ford quickly sold a sizable 20-percent share to drum up cash, leaving the American automaker with a still sizable 13.9-percent slice of Mazda. When Mazda recently issued more shares of its company, that stake withered even further to the 11 percent we see today.

Even so, Ford says that the two companies will continue to share information and technology moving forward. Hit the jump for press releases from both Mazda and Ford.

[Sources: Mazda, Ford]Continue reading Ford reducing Mazda stake to just 3.5%

Ford reducing Mazda stake to just 3.5% originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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