SAIC Motor halts shares pending sale of new stock
Sunday, 20 June 2010
BEIJING, June 19 (Bloomberg): SAIC Motor Corp, China's largest domestic carmaker, said trading in its Shanghai-listed shares will be halted June 21 pending an announcement about a share placement to be reviewed by its board within a week.
The Chinese partner of General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG didn't provide details about how much money it will raise from the sale or who the investors will be in its filing to the Shanghai stock exchange late yesterday.
Spokeswoman Zhu Xiangjun said she couldn't comment on the placement when contacted.
China, which surpassed the US as the world's largest vehicle market last year, is encouraging domestic automakers to develop their own brands and alternative-energy technology to compete with global rivals including Ford Motor Co and Toyota Motor Co SAIC, which owns the British Rover and MG sports-car brands, debuted its E1 electric concept car at the Beijing auto show in April.
"Fundraising is of great importance to SAIC right now as it needs to develop next-generation models for its Roewe and MG brands," John Zeng, a Shanghai-based analyst with IHS Global Insight, said in a phone interview today.
"It is also in talks with General Motors to buy next-generation technology for the Buick LaCrosse and it needs money to build a plant in Wuxi after the LDV purchase in the UK."
SAIC re-branded Rover cars in China as Roewe after taking over the design rights in 2005. It plans to start making MG brand cars at its plant in the UK by the end of this year, spokeswoman Zhu Xiangjun said in January.
The Chinese partner of General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG didn't provide details about how much money it will raise from the sale or who the investors will be in its filing to the Shanghai stock exchange late yesterday.
Spokeswoman Zhu Xiangjun said she couldn't comment on the placement when contacted.
China, which surpassed the US as the world's largest vehicle market last year, is encouraging domestic automakers to develop their own brands and alternative-energy technology to compete with global rivals including Ford Motor Co and Toyota Motor Co SAIC, which owns the British Rover and MG sports-car brands, debuted its E1 electric concept car at the Beijing auto show in April.
"Fundraising is of great importance to SAIC right now as it needs to develop next-generation models for its Roewe and MG brands," John Zeng, a Shanghai-based analyst with IHS Global Insight, said in a phone interview today.
"It is also in talks with General Motors to buy next-generation technology for the Buick LaCrosse and it needs money to build a plant in Wuxi after the LDV purchase in the UK."
SAIC re-branded Rover cars in China as Roewe after taking over the design rights in 2005. It plans to start making MG brand cars at its plant in the UK by the end of this year, spokeswoman Zhu Xiangjun said in January.