Lifan Motor sued by Ethiopian partner over takeover bid

Shanghai, August 21 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automaker Chongqing Lifan Automobile may be sued by its Ethiopian partner, Holland Car Plc, as part of an ongoing dispute, reports Nazret.com.

Tadesse Tessema, General Manager of Holland Car Plc, said that Lifan Motors has demanded to take over Holland Car and threatened to terminate contracts.

Arguing that the hostile takeover bid is against Ethiopian law, Tessema added that Lifan "has been acting in a way that has hurt Holland Car's reputation, built over years of hard work. We are now planning to take the case to a court of law."

The main cause of the controversy is said to be the drop in procurement by Holland Car of parts from Lifan Motors last year due to the foreign exchange shortage that hit Ethiopia, according to the newspaper.

Holland Car Plc, the first automobile assembly company in Ethiopia, is a joint venture (JV) between Trento, a Dutch assembly tool manufacturer, and Ethio-Holland Transport, an importer of used cars.