(AutoNews) – Ford Motor Co. announced today it will reduce its stake in Mazda Motor Corp. to 3.5 percent from 11 percent. The transaction is expected to be completed Friday.
The U.S. automaker will become Mazda’s fourth-largest stakeholder after selling the shares, the Japanese company said today in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Ford has been Mazda’s biggest shareholder since 1979.
“Both companies are committed to continuing our strategic partnership which spans over 30 years,” Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi said in a statement. “Mazda and Ford will continue to collaborate on areas of mutual benefit such as key joint ventures, joint projects and exchange of technology information.”
There has been speculation that Ford was looking to reduce its Mazda stake to gain more flexibility in its Chinese operations.
Mazda said that the 7.5 percent stake that Ford will dispose of will be transferred to Mazda’s business partners via off-auction trading through the Tokyo stock exchange.
Yamanouchi said that Chase Manhattan Bank, which had 7.1 percent of Mazda as of Sept. 30, would likely move up to the top spot.
Ford took a 25 percent stake in a debt-ridden Mazda in 1979, lifting that to a controlling 33.4 percent in 1996. In late 2008, it reduced its interest to 13 percent as it sought to raise cash. That stake fell to 11 percent when Mazda issued new shares last year
