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Ford is taking control in exchange for preferred
shares in the Ford-Sollers venture, while its economic interest
in the venture remains unchanged at 50 percent, Sollers said.
The companies agreed the changes to the venture's shareholder
structure on March 31, Sollers said, without providing any
financial details of the transaction.
"According to the amendments, the parties agreed to support the
business of the joint venture in the near future, thus providing
a platform for future growth," Sollers said in its 2014
financial report.
It added Ford would provide "additional financing and support"
to the venture which is responsible for local production, sales
and imports of Ford cars in Russia, while Sollers will have the
right to sell its stake in JV to Ford for at least $135 million.
Sollers said earlier on Friday that losses at the venture
resulted in a 2014 net loss of 3.7 billion rubles ($72 million)
compared with a net profit of 3.6 billion in 2013.
Stripping off Ford-Sollers's results, the auto maker would have
made a net profit of 1.7 billion rubles, it said.
Car sales in Russia fell sharply last year as demand faltered
following a drop in the rouble and a sharp economic slowdown
amid Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis
and lower oil prices.
The decline continued this year with March sales down 42.5
percent, according to the Association of European Businesses
which expects the market to fall by around 24 percent in 2015.
Sollers also has joint ventures with Japanese car makers Mazda,
Toyota, and Isuzu and a partnership with S.Korea's SsangYong.
(The story changes 6th graph to say compared with 2013, not
2014)
(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by
Elaine Hardcastle)
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