GAZ owner Oleg Deripaska, has bought a stake of about 5% in General Motors, newspaper Vedomosti quoted sources close to the Russian billionaire as saying.
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According to Reuters, the sources told the paper Deripaska bought the shares on the open market, that the stake was under 5% and that he had no intention of increasing his stake.
A spokesman for Deripaska, Russia’s second richest man with a fortune last estimated by Forbes magazine at $US16.8bn, declined to comment on the report to Reuters while GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem told the Financial Times the US carmaker did not comment on its stockholders, adding that there had been no relevant filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which would be required for any investor seeking to buy 5% or more of GM.
A 5% stake in GM at Monday’s closing price of $32.45 per share would have cost Deripaska around $900m, Reuters calculated.
The news agency noted that Deripaska’s Basic Element company agreed in May to invest $1.54bn in Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International while his business group has denied being interested in the Jaguar and Land Rover brands put up for sale by Ford.
According to the Financial Times, the Russian tycoon’s stake is said to be a personal investment and unrelated to Gaz, the vehicle manufacturer he controls.
