Daimler’s new major shareholder Aabar Investments of Abu Dhabi has bought 40% of the German firm’s circa-10% stake in Tesla Motors and promised more joint ventures.
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Daimler and Aabar had both wanted to invest jointly in Tesla when Daimler acquired its stake in May and, following “clarification of contractual details”, this plan could now be implemented, they said.
Daimler and Tesla are cooperating on the integration of Tesla’s lithium-ion battery packs and charging electronics into the first 1,000 units of Daimler’s electric Smart car.
Khadem Al Qubaisi, chairman of Aabar Investments,, said: “When we acquired our stake in Daimler in March we identified a number of potential areas for cooperation between our two businesses. One of these was a desire to focus on the development of electric vehicles and projects aiming at the reduction of CO2-emissions. Our joint involvement with Daimler in Tesla is completely in line with this strategy, and marks an important step in the continuing development of our partnership.”
Aabar acquired 9.1% of Daimler last March. The two companies issued a letter of intent stating that in addition to the equity investment, other joint strategic projects would be initiated.
“There are a lot of things that we are discussing together and we are trying to finalise a deal,” Al Qubaisi told Reuters on Monday after the acquisition of about 4% of Tesla.
“It’s too early to speak about the companies – in the next few months,” he said.
“We closed this deal with Daimler because I think this would benefit Daimler a lot,” Qubaisi said.
Aabar is viewed as a spearhead investor for the emirate of Abu Dhabi in non-energy assets, the news agency noted.
