Volvo Delays IPO Due To Global Trade Tensions

(RTTNews) - Auto giant Volvo has delayed plans for its initial public offering due to the ongoing global trade tensions between US and China.

According to the Financial Times, Geely, the Chinese company that owns Volvo, is to delay its plans for an IPO, which the company had expected to give Volvo a valuation of about $30 billion. Geely is worried that US President Donald Trump's trade war could hurt its valuation.

"It's important to know that we have headroom, so we can look the investors in the eye a year after the IPO," Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars chief executive, told the Financial Times.

"It is still an option, a very realistic option, but will not happen immediately," he said. "The timing has to be optimal."

"Conditions right now are not optimal to give certain upside for the investors," Samuelsson added. The business also needed "stable market conditions" to list its shares, and that any final decision rested with Geely's owner, Li Shufu.

Like all major car makers, Volvo is facing potential disruption to its business as global trade war resumes between the US and China, with US threatening to ramp up tariffs on automotive imports from Europe and China.