Toyota, Suzuki in Capital Alliance – To Develop Autonomous Vehicle Technology
Japanese auto majors, Toyota and Suzuki announced to enter into an agreement regarding a capital alliance. The new alliance is formed to establish and promote a long-term partnership between the two companies for promoting collaboration in new fields, including the field of autonomous driving.
Earlier this year, Toyota and Suzuki announced that they would begin specific considerations in order to engage in joint product development and collaboration in production, in addition to promoting the mutual supply of products, by bringing together Toyota’s strength in electrification technologies and Suzuki’s strength in technologies for compact vehicles.
In order to develop and promote a long-term partnership between the two companies, the companies plan to acquire each other’s shares based on the Alliance. Toyota plans to acquire 24,000,000 shares of common stock in Suzuki (4.94% ownership of the total number of shares issued by Suzuki as of March 31, 2019 (excluding treasury shares) with a total value of JPY 96 billion) by underwriting the disposition of treasury shares by way of third-party allotment conducted by Suzuki.
Likewise, Suzuki plans to acquire, through purchase in the market, shares in Toyota equivalent to JPY 48 billion. These share acquisitions will be implemented after the companies obtain approvals from the foreign competition authorities.
