Ford announced Monday that it has completed the sale of its Volvo brand, selling off the Swedish unit to Chinese automaker Geely.
Geely paid $1.3 billion cash for the business, while issuing a $200 million note payable to Ford, along with a promise of further payments with a later price true-up, according to a statement from Ford.
The sale marks completion of Fords effort to sell off all its foreign brands a retreat from its earlier campaign as Premier Automotive Group. The sale also marks the highest profile acquisition to date from Chinas rapidly growing automotive market.
Since the time Ford purchased Volvo in 1999 for $6.4 billion, the automaker has lost millions with a reported pretax loss of $653 million on the brand in 2009 alone.
According to Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, Volvo had returned to profits after a successful restructuring.
Ford said it would keep on providing Volvo with various automotive parts, as well as engineering and IT support, for a transitional period.
According to a report, Ford and Geely agreed to the deal in March, which marks a key step for the Chinese company seeking to expand its global presence. Chinese authorities were reported to have approved the acquisition last week.
