Ford abandons Mazda control with 20 per cent stake sale

Tokyo: Ford Motor Co, scrambling for cash as the US Big Three automakers struggle to stay alive, will end 12 years of control of Mazda Motor Corp through the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the Japanese carmaker for around $540 million.

Ford will remain Mazda's top shareholder with a stake of just over 13 percent.

Mazda, in which Ford first took a stake in 1979, said on Tuesday it would buy back 6.87 per cent of its own shares from Ford for up to 17.9 billion yen ($185 million), keeping them as treasury stock.

More than 20 undisclosed business partners will purchase the remaining 13 per cent, Mazda said.