Daimler Shareholder Aabar Raises $1.63 Billion Loan

The six-month club loan will be used for general corporate purposes, the Abu Dhabi-based company said in a statement to the bourse on Wednesday, without giving further details. Abaar is 71 per cent owned by Abu Dhabi government-controlled International Petroleum Investment Co.

Aabar had outstanding debt of Dh12.7 billion ($3.5 billion) and total equity of Dh12.4 billion at the end of September, according to Bloomberg data. It also had other short- term liabilities of Dh7.3 billion, the data show.

In March, Aabar paid $2.7 billion for a 9.1 per cent stake Daimler, buttressing the resources of the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks amid the worst auto-industry crisis in decades. Aabar wants to raise its stake in Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler to 15 per cent, Chairman Khadem Abdulla Al-Qubaisi said in an interview on November 16. In July, Aabar teamed up with Daimler on Tesla Motors Inc., buying part of Daimler’s 10 per cent stake in the maker of electric-powered sports cars.

Daimler and Aabar on November 16 said they would pay £110 million ($183 million) to buy 75.1 per cent of the Brawn Grand Prix racing team, whose driver Jenson Button won this year’s Formula One championship.

Aabar shares closed 4.6 per cent lower at Dh2.26 on the Abu Dhabi bourse on Tuesday. The stock has risen 27 per cent this year, valuing the company at Dh7 billion. —