China's Volvo bid may stall over intellectual property

By Don Durfee

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Geely Holding's attempt to buy Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Volvo car unit is in danger of stalling over disagreements about intellectual property rights, a source close to the talks said on Wednesday.

Representatives from Ford and Geely, parent of Hong Kong-listed car maker Geely Automotive (0175.HK), have been discussing a sale, for around $2 billion, since early this year.

The latest talks, being held in London, are focused on the U.S. car maker's concerns about sharing its proprietary technology and plans for new products, said the source in response to a Reuters query about an earlier Bloomberg report.

An impasse on that issue could scupper the negotiations.

Ford said talks were ongoing with interested parties regarding the sale of Volvo. "We have been consistently stating that this process will take some time to unfold, and that is still the case," a spokesman said.

Volvo Cars spokeswoman Maria Bohlin said: "Our response is, like always, that we cannot comment on the sales process."

Geely said last month it was considering a bid for Volvo along with a local government-backed investment firm.

It also said a Goldman Sachs (GS.N) affiliate was investing $334 million in Geely Auto via convertible bonds and warrants, a move widely seen as boosting Geely's growth ambitions.