Daimler passes 4 percent of Tesla to Abu Dhabi firm

Just two months ago, Daimler made news with its purchase of a 10 percent stake in electric vehicle front-runner Tesla Motors — but it’s already scaled back its ownership, offloading 40 percent of its holdings to Aabar Investments, a firm based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Daimler — which claims that it always planned to sell off this part of its stake — says the deal is part of a strategic collaboration with the firm to develop low-emissions technology.

Aabar, which now owns 4 percent of Tesla, became Daimler’s largest stakeholder in March, now holding 9.1 percent of the company. The firm is a subsidiary of International Petroleum Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s government-controlled investment firm focused on the oil industry. Its interest in Tesla fits in with Abu Dhabi’s recent emphasis on renewable energy development. Even though the region controls a massive amount of oil, it is investing heavily in projects like the as yet uncompleted Masdar Institute of Science and Technology to jumpstart cleantech research and development. In the meantime, its relationship with Daimler and Tesla is serving to fill the gap.

When Daimler first acquired its 10 percent chunk, Tesla agreed to supply the car maker with battery packs to power its first 1,000 electric Smart cars and to continue research on advanced battery technology.

While Tesla is known more for vehicle production than its battery operations, the latter has proved very lucrative for the company. That said, it’s not surprising that Aabar waited until now to pull the trigger on the deal with Daimler. Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy granted Telsa a $465 million loan as part of the stimulus bill that will be used to bring its ambitious Model S sedan to market by 2011. If the highly-anticipated car, priced at $57,400, sells as well as the San Carlos, Calif., company predicts, Aabar could reap a nice payoff.

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