14 Jul 2009
The United Arab Emirates' status as one of the go-to locations for clean tech firms seeking investment was further underlined yesterday with news that Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments has snapped up a stake in US electric car firm Tesla Motors.
The investment firm announced it has shelled out an undisclosed sum to purchase 40 per cent of German car giant Daimler's equity stake in Tesla.
In May, Daimler paid an undisclosed sum, estimated in some quarters to be worth about $50m, for an equity stake of just under 10 per cent in the high-profile electric car manufacturer. Under the deal, Tesla also agreed to provide 1,000 battery packs for Daimler's new electric smart cars, while the two firms also signed a deal that will see them co-operate on the development of new battery technologies.
Aabar's acquisition of around four per cent of Tesla follows its own deal in March with Daimler that saw it acquire a 9.1 per cent stake in the auto giant and sign an agreement to work together on new joint ventures.
The two companies said in a statement that the new investment would allow " Daimler and Aabar to leverage their shared interest in the development of low-CO2 drive systems".
The move also puts further distance between Tesla and the high-profile financial problems that afflicted the firm late last year.
Recent months have seen the company bounce back strongly from the cashflow difficulties that resulted in a number of redundancies at the firm. Since May, the company has received financial backing from Daimler, secured a $465m low-interest loan from the US government to finance a production plant for its new Model S all-electric sedan, and rolled out a new fleet of showrooms in North America and Europe.
LATEST STORIES ABOUT TECHNOLOGY
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
LATEST JOBS
TODAY'S TOP STORIES
HIGHLIGHT
Companies must be more open about which groups they fund and why, say green marketing experts
INSIGHT
INSIGHT
The science and practical application of an improved method for the specification of power and cooling infrastructure for data centres
A look at alternative approaches to managing energy for cost and/or sustainability reasons in data centres
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Add your comment
mid range electric cars now
I'm excited about electric cars news but tired of hearing about Tesla Motors- until they start producing cheaper models. For electric cars to be serious contenders, they need to be mid-priced economy vehicles that most households can by with tax incentives etc. According to new reports, up to 1/3 of cars buyers want to go electric- which would reduce oil dependency, green house emissions, foreign oil dependency, health care costs, and create jobs. For more information about electric cars, I suggest checking out the website http://twocentspermile.com or http://bit.ly/2centspermile
Posted by jason brookes, 14 Jul 2009