Geely's bid for Volvo stalls over IPR: report

Oct. 22, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Geely Holdings Group, the largest privately owned carmaker in China, may fail in the bid for Ford Motor's Volvo unit, due to disagreement on intellectual property rights, according to sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported.

Representative from both companies are meeting in London on the possible sale of the Volvo's unit. However, the talks are at an impasse as the Chinese automaker seems not able to resolve concerns from Ford about sharing the proprietary technology and plans for new products.

The U.S. company may keep the Swedish unit if the two sides couldn't reach an agreement on the IPR issue, according to the source.

Volvo's spokesman declined to comment on the sales progress.

Last month, Geely said it may team up with a state-owned investment company on the possible bid for Volvo.

Shares of Geely Holdings's Hong Kong-listed unit fell 2.28% to HK$2.70 in the morning trading on Thursday.