Geely may increase 20M MBH new shares

China's Geely Automobile will likely increase 20 million new ordinary shares of UK company Manganese Bronze Holdings (MBH), Geely said in a statement filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday.

The board of directors of Geely Automobile Holdings Limited, China's biggest private-run carmaker, announced that the company has received a written notification from MBH after trading hours on Monday that the board of MBH intended to invite Geely to subscribe for 20 million new ordinary shares of MBH.

If the Potential Subscription materializes, Geely's interest in MBH will increase from approximately 19.97 percent to approximately 51.68 percent of the enlarged share capital of MBH.

Geely signed an acquisition contract to buy Volvo, an auto unit of US carmaker Ford Motor, for $1.8 billion at the end of March.