China's Geely Denies Report It Cut Daimler Stake

(Bloomberg) -- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group denied selling any of its 9.7 percent stake in Daimler AG, following a Bloomberg report that the holding had been cut in half.

Geely, in a statement on its website, said that as a long-term investor in Daimler and its largest single shareholder, it has no plans to cut its holding in Daimler and that the holding remains unchanged.

Morgan Stanley disclosed in a regulatory filing on Thursday that it had voting rights associated with about a 5.4 percent stake in Daimler. The bank is holding the shares on behalf of others, a person familiar with the situation said, without elaborating.

Morgan Stanley was one of the banks that helped Geely finance its original purchase of the stake in Daimler, people familiar with the matter said after it was announced last February.

Bloomberg reported earlier that Chinese billionaire Li Shufu's Geely had cut the stake in Daimler by more than half, less than a year after making what was the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese automaker, citing people familiar with the matter.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Yan Zhang in Beijing at yzhang1044@bloomberg.net;Haze Fan in Beijing at hfan40@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Liu at jliu42@bloomberg.net

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With assistance from Bloomberg