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Volkswagen Group Will Sell Its 19.9 Stake in Suzuki

You probably didn’t know that Volkswagen spread its tentacles over in Asia as well and had a 19.9 percent stake in Suzuki, did you? Well, it’s true, and it seems like it was more a headache than a productive collaboration. That’s at least if we’re to believe the latest press release coming in from VAG.
Volkswagen and Suzuki Logos 1 photo
Photo: MotorTrend
The group claims that a tribunal in London agreed that the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer fulfilled its contractual obligations, but the Japanese didn’t. Therefore, they are now allowed to sell their stake in Suzuki. But let’s take a look at what happened in the first place.

Back in 2009 Volkswagen decided to buy a sizeable amount of Suzuki hoping that the Japanese manufacturer would help them gain more access in India and Southeast Asia. At the same time, the participant in this whole ordeal hoped that it would gain access to the cutting edge technology the Germans have, and everyone seemed happy.

Well, things didn’t exactly go how they hoped they will and no even two years had passed when the CEO of Suzuki went out on a rant publicly, accusing the deal as being unfair. All sorts of allegations started going around and ever since, the two have been entangled in a host of suits to determine who’s right and who’s not.

With a new strategic investor backing them up, hedge fund Third Point LLC, Suzuki now doesn’t need VW and wanted to end this legal battle once and for all. That’s what eventually happened these days, and it seems like Suzuki is even going to buy its own shares back from the Germans in the process of separation.

"We welcome the clarity created by this ruling. The tribunal rejected Suzuki's claims of a breach and found that Volkswagen met its contractual obligations under the cooperation agreement. Nevertheless, the arbitrators found that termination of the cooperation agreement by Suzuki on reasonable notice was valid and that Volkswagen must dispose of the shares purchased,”
said the Group on Sunday in a press release.

They also claim that the company will reserve the right to claim damages in the future, but no official word on that has been offered so far.
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