The Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund is significantly reducing its stake in Mercedes-Benz. This was confirmed by both sides on Wednesday. The Kuwait Investment Authority's stake thus falls from 6.8 to just under 5 percent. The sale brings the sovereign wealth fund, which is considered the oldest in the world, almost 1.4 billion euros. The investment bank Morgan Stanley has been commissioned with the placement. Who buys the shares, remained initially open. On the stock exchange, the share price of Mercedes-Benz was down around 1.8 percent at 70.57 euros early Wednesday afternoon, having previously fallen temporarily below the threshold of 70 euros.
Gustav Theile
Business correspondent in Stuttgart.
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Kuwait has held a stake in the Stuttgart-based car manufacturer for almost 50 years and was the largest shareholder for a long time. The sovereign wealth fund had entered in November 1974 with a share of about 14 percent and had paid 329 million dollars for it at that time. After the separation of Daimler and Chrysler in 2007, the share was 6.8 percent. Almost a decade ago, both sides celebrated the 40th anniversary of the partnership in a joint celebration. At the time, representatives of the former Daimler Group described Kuwait as "Daimler's most reliable partner despite all the ups and downs of the company's history".
No representative on the Supervisory Board
Since last year, Kuwait is no longer represented on the company's supervisory board. The sovereign wealth fund will remain an important shareholder and wants to continue the "successful partnership", stressed Mercedes and the Kuwait Investment Authority in partially identical statements. Kuwait wants to spread its shares more widely.
Mercedes has been in Chinese hands for almost a fifth for several years. The largest shareholder with a stake of almost 10 percent is the Beijing state-owned company BAIC, with which Mercedes operates a joint venture for the market in the People's Republic. Almost as many shares are held by the car entrepreneur Li Shufu, who is behind the Geely Group and with whom Mercedes operates the Smart brand.
The Stuttgart-based car manufacturer repeatedly emphasizes that the Chinese are long-term oriented shareholders and do not interfere in day-to-day business. Both are not represented on the Supervisory Board.
According to the Group's website, European shareholders, including Germany, hold almost a quarter of the shares, the USA accounted for a good 20 percent and Asia just under 22 percent. In addition to Kuwait's share, a good quarter is accounted for by other regions. The Mercedes share was on Wednesday with a minus of almost 2 percent Dax taillight.