Daimler AG
In March 2009, Daimler AG announced the sale of EUR 1.95 billion ($2.7 billion) of shares to Aabar. The investment company will buy 96.4 million new Daimler shares for EUR 20.27 apiece. After acquiring all new shares, Aabar will hold approximately 9.1% of the new share capital.
The future cooperation between Aabar and Daimler aims to create social and economic benefits for Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The partnership will focus on joint initiatives in the following areas:
- Electric vehicles with a particular focus on projects aiming at the reduction of CO2 emissions
- Development and/or production of innovative compound materials to be used in automotive manufacturing
- Social projects such as the establishment of a training center in Abu Dhabi to educate young talent for positions in the automotive industry
In May 2011, Aabar raised EUR 1.25 billion ($1.76 billion) of an unsecured exchangeable bond over Daimler shares that is due in 2016. Aabar had earlier launched a EUR 750 million ($1.06 billion) unsecured exchangeable bond but increased the size to EUR 1.25 billion following demand from investors during the book building phase. Aabar said its commitment to its investment in Daimler remained unchanged. Aabar will use the proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes. Based on the increased issue size, the bonds will represent approximately 20 million Daimler shares, or 1.9% of the current total number of issued and outstanding shares.
In October 2011, Aabar announced that its voting stake in Daimler fell just below 5% through an increase in the German automaker's share capital which was triggered by exercising stock options. But, Aabar said it remains fully committed to its position as anchor shareholder and stated that its total shareholding in Daimler still compares to the stake it bought in 2009.
Read more about this topic: Aabar, Investments