Shanghai Automotive Co. Ltd., owner of a fifth of General Motors' main China car plant, said Thursday its parent had completed the shift of its 70 percent stake in the listed firm to another unit. 

"We were recently advised by our parent that the transfer has been completed," the listed arm said without elaborating in a statement published in the Shanghai Securities News.

The transfer moved control of the listed firm to Shanghai Automotive Group Co. Ltd., a new unit set up at the end of 2004 to pave the way for parent Shanghai Automotive Industry (Group) Corp. (SAIC) to list overseas or at home in a public offering that could raise as much as US$2 billion in 2005 or beyond.

SAIC, China's top carmaker and GM's main partner in China, set up the new holding firm for its car assets in a revamp ahead of the long-awaited initial public offering.

The new company will serve as the public face of SAIC and own its stakes in carmaking ventures with GM and Volkswagen AG in China's financial hub of Shanghai.

Including the listed unit's stake, SAIC owns half of the joint ventures with those foreign companies.

SAIC acquired 48.9 percent of South Korea's Ssangyong Motor Co. for about US$500 million last year and had talked with Britain's MG Rover about setting up a venture.

(Shenzhen Daily May 13, 2005)