The operation is around 1,385 million euros
MADRID, March 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), which held 6.84% of shares in Mercedes Benz, has reduced its stake in the German company by 1.87% after selling 20 million shares in an accelerated placement.
Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund now owns around 53 million Mercedes shares, and according to Bloomberg agency, the sale of stocks comes in response to an “effort to diversify” its asset portfolio.
Meanwhile, Banco Sabadell said in a report that the sale of Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund shares was completed for around €69.27 per share, amounting to around €1,385 million.
“Negative news, not so much because of the rebate, but because of the fact that KIA is a historic investor in Mercedes Benz (since 1974) and has held its 6.84% stake since 2007 (when Daimler and Chrysler ended their relationship) “This divestment comes as a surprise at a time when the company is transitioning its business back to a ‘premium’ model, which should essentially allow it a strong ‘re-rating’ of shares,” the company added to Finance in its review.
Following the deal, Mercedes Benz shares were trading around 70.5 euros on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at midday, down 1.81% from Tuesday’s close.
Despite this placement, the main shareholders of Mercedes Benz remain the Chinese group Beijing Automotive (BAIC), which holds 9.98% of the German consortium, followed by the President of the Chinese automobile giant Geely, Li Shufu (9.68%). and the Kuwait Investment Authority, whose stake will be reduced to 4.97% (vs. 6.84% previously held).
The Kuwait sovereign wealth fund’s decision to reduce its stake in Mercedes Benz comes a month and a half after the company announced its results for the past year, in which it reported net profit of 14,809 million euros, 34% more than in 2021.
