Geely has acquired close to 10 per cent of Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler for about $9bn, becoming its largest shareholder in the latest sign of the global ambitions of the Chinese group.
Geely, which already owns Volvo Cars and Lotus, has built up a 9.69 per cent stake in Daimler, the German carmaker said in a filing late on Friday. The stake is worth roughly $9bn.
Li Shufu, the chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, will travel to Germany this week following the disclosure to begin talks with Daimler, according to one person familiar with the details. He is seeking to build the company into a Chinese version of the Volkswagen group with brands in different segments of the market.