BMW Declined Offer From Chinese Investor

Before Li Shufu rose to become the largest single shareholder at Mercedes-Benz through the acquisition of almost 10% of Daimler’s shares, the billionaire was apparently also in talks with the BMW Group.  As Spiegel reports, there were also talks between BMW and the Geely founder in the runup to the Daimler share purchase.  Li is said to have promised BMW improved access to the Chinese market, including through his contacts with the Chinese government, BMW Blog reported. In return, Li Shufu did not want a stock package, but cooperation in the construction of electric cars. However, the BMW Group decided to go down a different path and recently announced cooperation between MINI and Great Wall to build the electric car MINI E in China.