Suzuki Motor seen taking Daewoo stake


Daewoo Motor's successor may have a new equity partner in Japan's Suzuki

TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese minicar maker Suzuki Motor Corp is in final talks to take an equity stake in the successor to South Korea's failed Daewoo Motor Co, an industry source said Wednesday.

The source, quoted by Reuters news agency said that the size of the stake had yet to be decided.

The Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Suzuki would take a stake of about 15 percent in the new Daewoo firm, which will be majority owned by General Motors Corp.

On April 30, General Motors and its partners finalized their agreement to buy much of Daewoo for $400 million.

GM and its team will take a 67 percent stake in the new Daewoo, a joint venture with Daewoo's creditors, who will own 33 percent.

Three factories

The JV will own three factories and nine overseas subsidiaries. As expected, GM took on the factories in Changwon and Gunsan and did not buy Daewoo's controversial Bupyong plant, its oldest and largest.

GM owns 20 percent of Suzuki.

Shares in Suzuki are up 1.82 percent to 1507 yen in early Tokyo trade Wednesday. The broader market, measured by the Nikkei 225, is down about 0.77 percent.

In Seoul, where the benchmark Kospi is down 1.3 percent, Daewoo Motor Sales is up 1.43 percent to 7100 won. The company is regarded as a proxy for Daewoo Motor.