Volvo Cars drops IPO plans on trade tensions

Paris : Volvo Cars and its Chinese owner Geely have postponed plans to float shares in the Swedish carmaker, blaming trade tensions and a downturn in automotive stocks. But while Volvo’s plans for a Stockholm listing were delayed indefinitely, Britain’s Aston Martin vowed to push ahead with its own initial public offering.

“We’ve come to the conclusion that the timing is not optimal for an IPO right now,” Volvo Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters. Volvo and its Chinese parent had been discussing an IPO to value the carmaker at between $16 billion and $30 billion, sources previously said.