Crown consortium, an American group of private equity firms led by two former Ford executives, has reportedly challenged Chinese automaker Geely’s bid for Ford’s up-for-sale Volvo unit, according to reports.
According to the Financial Times, the consortium is led by turnaround expert Michael Dingman, who was the director of Ford Motor Company for more than 20 years, as well as former Ford and Chrysler executive Shamel Rushwin.
The report says that Crown didn’t offer as much for Volvo as Hong Kong-based Geely’s reportedly $2 billion. Both plans are reported to have promised to invest about $3 billion into Volvo. Crown is said to still be seeking additional Swedish investors in order to signal its intent to keep Volvo in the country.
Despite some of the well-publicized pluses of keeping Volvo an American and European company, some analysts suggest that Geely might be the better leader.
“Having a U.S.-led consortium as a buyer might be charming to Americans,” Analyst Gregor Claussen of Commerzbank told Forbes. “But Volvo being a small company needs economies of scale that Geely can provide.”
Ford has neither confirmed nor denied specifics about bidders for Volvo.
