Iran’s Largest Car Maker Gives Away 15 Percent Share

KhodroCar – The story of shareholders or better to say, domestic car makers to turn into semi-private companies, is so complicated that it worth writing a book about, not even the writer can understand a bit of it. Saman Investment Co., IKCO personnel cooperative, Negar Nasr, SAIPA Investment, Rena Investments … are subsidiaries of two major domestic car makers the IKCO and SAIPA. These are a few names of companies that are owners of the two major car makers of the country, and the other way around.

Back in the ninth and tenth government when there were talks about privatization two major domestic car makers, the IKCO and SAIPA, subsidiaries of the two companies with the help of the working capital started buying some shares of their mother companies so that privatization is done and the management is taken out of the government hands as a by-product of the very action because the managers did not want to lose their positions every time the government is changed.

Between the two, SAIPA did not finish the process wholly and caused the uncompensated accumulated losses. This act dragged SAIPA so close to bankruptcy and caused its working capital be provided by the part makers. Today, SAIPA is on thin ice but it is IKCO which is willing to give away some of its possession starting last year by selling Samand Investments Co. shares through auction.

This could be a positive happening if done right, yet could lead to another disaster in automotive industry if not.

KhodroCar Journalist: Asal Dadashloo

KhodroCar Translator: Mostafa Anisi