Frankfurt/Beijing - Shares in Daimler AG rose to a
nine-month high on Monday following a Chinese media report that the country's sovereign
wealth fund was looking into buying a stake in the German maker of trucks and
luxury cars.
The auto news channel of the online site of China's People's
Daily newspaper said China Investment Corp, the country's investment vehicle,
was interested in buying a stake of between 4% and 10% stake in Daimler.
The article cited no sources, saying only that the
information "had been revealed". CIC declined to comment.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters the report
was without merit.
Daimler spokesperson Silke Walters declined to comment on
the report but said: "In general we always welcome any new investors as a
balanced shareholder structure is in the interest of Daimler."
The shares were up 1.7% at 09:08 GMT, making them one of the
top three gainers in the DAX index of German blue chips which was down 0.4%.
The stock rose as high as €43.64, its highest since April.
Daimler lost Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Aabar as its
largest investor last October when the emirate sold a remaining 3.07% stake in
the Stuttgart-based auto maker worth about €1.25bn.
The German manufacturer, which last year slipped further
behind rivals BMW and Volkswagen's Audi in the global luxury car market, has
promised €2bn in cost-cuts at its Mercedes-Benz division by the end of 2014.
Last autumn Daimler warned it would miss its full-year
operating profit target by €1bn.
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