Chinese car maker Geely Holdings said today that it had formally completed a deal to buy Sweden's Volvo Cars from US car giant Ford at a ceremony in London.
The Swedish brand will keep its headquarters and plants in Sweden and Belgium, and its management will retain its autonomy under a board headed by Geely Group chairman Li Shufu, the company said in a statement.
'This is a historic day for Geely, which is extremely proud to have acquired Volvo Cars', Li said in the statement. 'This famous Swedish premium brand will remain true to its core values of safety, quality, environmental care and modern Scandinavian design,' he added.
Li said that he hoped to see the struggling Swedish brand regain its former strong reputation.
Geely, which first agreed to take over Volvo in March, has said it will spend $2.7 billion on the deal - the original price tag of $1.8 billion, plus $900m in working capital to improve the brand. Ford owned Volvo for a decade.
Both the European Union's competition watchdog and China's commerce ministry gave their approval for the takeover last month.
Geely has said it plans to expand the presence of Volvo - known for its sturdy, family-friendly vehicles - in China, now the world's largest car market. It also plans to target the European and North American markets.
Geely has become one of China's biggest private car makers since launching its car manufacturing business in 1997. It has annual production capacity of 300,000 cars but has sold fewer than 200,000 abroad since 1997.
