Today, the German press reports that Mercedes and BMW plan an alliance, in which each will get 7% of the other's shares. To get over the economic crisis, BMW will receive 7% of Daimler’s shares and Daimler will get 7% of BMW's shares. This exchange will help both companies sustain their current projects. The rumor says this alliance will help save a few hundred million Euros over a short time and as much as a few billions over a longer period of time.
However, the Quandt family, who owns 46% of BMW speculates that Daimler could soon make an offer to take over BMW, as it happened with Chrysler a few years back. The German government is also expected to take a position on this alliance and one of its options is to make the alliance illegal.
Mercedes and BMW have not made an official statement on this matter yet.
[Source: Automarket]
