Trading house Itochu Corp. and general contractor Kajima Corp. are among the roughly 10 firms that have agreed to buy Mazda Motor Corp. shares from U.S. carmaker Ford Motor Co.
Ford had concluded talks with potential buyers as of Tuesday. In addition to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. which had been seen as likely buyers, the roster grew to about 10 companies in the end, including Itochu and Kajima.
Itochu and Sumitomo will each buy a 3% stake in the Japanese automaker from Ford, with the acquisition price estimated at about 10 billion yen.
SMBC, Mazda's main lender, which already holds a 2.9% interest in the carmaker, will also buy additional shares. The rest will go to companies that do business with Mazda, such as materials and parts suppliers.
Ford has been Mazda's top shareholder for 31 years, but will no longer be so when it sells a large portion of its 11% stake. The U.S. carmaker intends to continue to hold a stake of around 3%.
Mazda will strengthen capital and business ties with financial institutions and business partners.
Ford and Mazda will this week make an official announcement about the post-sale makeup of Mazda shareholders.
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