China Investment Corp Not in Talks For Daimler’s Stake

According to anonymous sources, China Investment Corporation is not in talks with Daimler to buy a stake in the automaker.

Today, January 7th, Daimler’s shares quickly jumped after a People’s Daily report was saying that China Investment Corp. was planning to buy between 4% and 10% of Daimler, for the sum varying between 1.8 billion euro and 4.5 billion euro. But an anonymous source, with direct knowledge of the issue, told the Financial Times that CIC is not in talks with the German automaker. Shares fell back after the report was denied.

It is unusual for People’s Daily, which is a central piece of the Communist party, to make such a report without official sources. Daimler declined to comment on this speculation, but added that the company is open to any new potential investors, including from China.

CIC, which manages almost $150 billion in overseas assets, has begun to focus on natural resources and infrastructure after its investments in financial institutions have been affected by global credit crisis. The company hasn’t made any direct investments in the automotive sector, therefore Daimler will be a pioneer in this sector. In 2012 Daimler announced that it expects profits this year to fall below last year’s due to the deteriorating situation in Europe caused by the economic crisis.