Romania plans to launch the sale of its 72.4% stake in carmaker Daewoo Automobile by early next month, the government told a news agency on Friday.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
According to Reuters, the centrist cabinet has said it hopes to wrap up the process by June, after it bought back the majority stake in the company from its bankrupt owner late last year. So far, the state has received four letters of intent from General Motors, Ford, Tata and Chery Automobile.
“A preliminary sale announcement will be made by the first week of March at the latest. The privatisation committee decided to sell the state’s whole stake,” the government told Reuters after a meeting between prime minister Calin Tariceanu and Ford representatives in Bucharest.
The news agency noted that the head of Romania’s privatisation agency, Teodor Atanasiu, has said he envisaged the buyer would have to ensure a minimum yearly output of 300,000 units.
Under the terms of the buyback deal, Romania paid $US51m for Daewoo Motor’s stake and $10m for debts stemming from past loans secured by the carmaker, the report said.
Many auto parts makers have set up in Romania recently, lured by the rising output of Renault’s Dacia plant, cheap labour, favourable tax rates and its European Union entry in January, Reuters added.
