Geely signs deal with Ford on buying Volvo

Goteborg, Sweden, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group signed a deal with Ford Motor Co. here on Sunday to acquire the U.S. auto giant's Volvo car unit.

The deal was inked at a ceremony at the headquarters of Volvo Cars in the second largest city of Sweden. The details of the deal will be announced at a news conference following the ceremony.

Earlier media reports quoted sources familiar with the negotiations as saying the deal would be worth nearly 2 billion U.S. dollars.

The Swedish carmaker, which has about 20,000 workers, was purchased by Ford in 1999 for 6.45 million dollars.

But Ford had been attempting to sell Volo since late 2008, due to its poor market performance. Geely was named as the preferred bidder for the Swedish subsidiary in October 2009.

Geely, which started to manufacture cars in 1998, is a major private automaker headquartered in southeast China's Zhejiang province. Geely Holding Group is the parent company of Geely Automobile Holdings.

Besides Ford, some other Western auto giants are also seeking buyers in China. Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings has agreed to buy some powertrain technology from General Motors Co.'s Swedish Saab unit.