Volvo postpones IPO on trade war fears, downturn in automotive shares
Volvo Cars and its owner Geely said on Monday they had postponed plans to float shares in the Swedish carmaker, blaming trade tensions and a downturn in automotive stocks. Volvo said plans for a listing in Stockholm had been delayed indefinitely, a move first reported by the Financial Times. The postponement came as Britain’s Aston Martin vowed to press ahead with its own flotation. "We’ve come to the conclusion that the timing is not optimal for an IPO right now," Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters in a telephone interview. Volvo and its Chinese parent had been discussing an initial public offering (IPO) to value the carmaker at between $16bn and $30bn, sources have previously said. The company said on Monday a listing was still possible in the future. But Samuelsson said IPO prospects had dimmed with the business cycle, amid a broad-based decline in automotive shares that has dragged the Stoxx 600 Autos & Parts index 15% lower so far this year. Even before the recent sector s...
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