“Anything is possible in the future,” Oscarsson said. “For the time being we have no intention to change our position in the company.”
He didn’t exclude Geely taking a more active ownership role such as requesting a board seat or joining the nomination committee. Geely, which owns a web of automotive interests in Europe, controls 8.2 percent of Volvo’s share capital and 16 percent of votes. Swedish investment company Industrivarden AB is the biggest stakeholder with 27.8 percent of votes.
Geely bought the stake in Volvo in 2018 from activist investor Cevian Capital AB and has viewed the holding then and now as a “strategic and financially beneficial investment,” Oscarsson said. The exit from Daimler doesn’t change this, he said.
Sweden’s Dagens Industri on Tuesday said Volvo was unlikely to give Geely a board seat due to concerns over Chinese influence hurting the prospects of the truckmaker’s U.S. operations, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.
Volvo declined to comment.
