VW Is Told to Shed Suzuki Stake
August 30 2015 - 9:00PM
Dow Jones News
TOKYO—An international court has ordered Volkswagen AG to sell
its nearly 20% stake in Suzuki Motor Corp., allowing the Japanese
auto maker to extricate itself from the tie-up after a four-year
struggle.
The decision, by the London Court of International Arbitration,
stamps an official imprimatur on the divorce between VW, one of the
world's largest auto makers, and Suzuki, which is a niche
competitor globally but has a strong presence in India and other
emerging markets. Their partnership went sour not long after the
deal was struck in 2009, indicating the challenges facing the
growing number of international alliances in the auto industry.
Though the arbitrator ruled that Suzuki could buy back its stake
from VW, it also said Suzuki breached the alliance agreement.
Suzuki said it might have to pay damages to the German car maker,
adding that details would likely be addressed in future
arbitrations.
Volkswagen said it expected an earnings boost from the sale of
the Suzuki stake, which was valued at roughly $3.8 billion at the
close of trading Friday. "We welcome the clarity created by this
ruling," it said in a written statement.
The decision, which Suzuki said it received late Saturday,
highlights the obstacles confronting second-tier auto makers that
lack the financial resources and scale of major auto makers in an
increasingly costly and competitive sector. Auto makers face rising
development costs to meet tougher fuel-consumption regulations, and
deep-pocketed technology companies such as Google Inc. are entering
the industry.
Osamu Suzuki, the 85-year-old chief executive of the Japanese
car maker, said that his company won't seek new partners soon.
"The premise of our future is that we will be independent," he
said during a news conference on Sunday.
When the two companies entered their partnership, Suzuki hoped
to tap Volkswagen's advanced fuel-efficient technology, while
Volkswagen coveted the Japanese car maker's expertise in small cars
and India.
Suzuki's Indian subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki, is the best-selling
auto maker in that rapidly growing market.
In 2010, Volkswagen purchased a 19.9% stake in Suzuki for about
€1.7 billion, or approximately $1.9 billion at current exchange
rates.
But differences in corporate culture soon emerged. Volkswagen
alleged that Suzuki breached the alliance agreement by buying
diesel engines from Fiat SpA of Italy; Suzuki denied that this was
against the terms. In late 2011, Suzuki filed for arbitration,
demanding that Volkswagen return its stake in the Japanese car
maker.
While the dispute was a headache for Volkswagen, which hoped to
fill in the missing pieces of its global portfolio, it had a bigger
impact on Suzuki, which was left to develop its own fuel-efficient
technologies.
The dispute also delayed the Japanese auto maker's efforts to
rejuvenate its leadership, because it had expected the court to
reach a decision earlier. The company held off on changes to its
top executive ranks until June, when Mr. Suzuki handed over the
titles of president and chief operating officer to his son
Toshihiro.
The elder Mr. Suzuki said he couldn't wait any longer for the
arbitrator's decision, or else the auto maker would be left behind.
He stayed on as CEO.
On Sunday, when asked whether he would step down, the elder Mr.
Suzuki said he hadn't thought about it.
Over the past two years, Suzuki has developed new fuel-efficient
technologies on its own.
Unsettled issues remain over the alliance dispute. Suzuki is set
to purchase the shares from Volkswagen based on the market price,
but the companies didn't say when the buyback would take place.
Suzuki executives also didn't say whether the company would have
to raise fresh capital to do so, or whether the Japanese auto maker
would cancel the shares it buys back.
Suzuki owns a 1.5% stake in Volkswagen. It will consider what to
do with those shares, said Vice Chairman Yasuhito Harayama.
Write to Yoko Kubota at yoko.kubota@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 30, 2015 20:45 ET (00:45 GMT)
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