SEC Seeks ISS Client Voting Records in Proxy Adviser Probe 
Volkswagen Approves 50,000 More Job Cuts in Major Restructuring 
Gold Prices Hold Near $4,400 as Fed Rate Hike Bets Ease 
BP Names Ian Tyler Permanent Chairman After Governance Shake-Up 
MongoDB Stock Sinks 14% as Atlas Growth Misses Expectations 
Lynas Rare Earths Shares Rise After Takeover Talks Revealed 
Thomson Reuters C-Track Cyberattack Hits Courts Across U.S. and Canada 
Adobe Names Anil Chakravarthy CEO as AI Push Accelerates 
Gold Prices Hold Near $4,500 as Fed Rate Hike Bets Ease 
Xiaomi Shares Jump on Europe EV Expansion Plan 
Asian Currencies Rise as Yen Surges on BOJ Rate Hike Bets 
Singapore Straits Times Index Hits Record High as Banks, Property Stocks Rally 
Qantas Near-Miss Raises Sydney Air Traffic Controller Fatigue Concerns 
OpenAI Launches GPT-6 Astra With Advanced AI Agent Capabilities 
Chinese AI Stocks Rally After OpenAI Launches GPT-6 Astra 
Hong Kong Eyes Offshore Yuan Expansion, Deeper China Market Links 
OPEC+ Expected to Hold October Oil Output Steady 
Add as a preferred source on Google
Volvo Cars has taken over Zenseact driving software company after acquiring a 13.5% stake which increased its ownership to 100%. The deal effectively made the Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles the new owner of Zenseact.
Prior to taking full ownership, the autonomous driving software firm was one of Volvo Cars’ subsidiaries. The full acquisition was formally announced the past weekend.
The automaker said that it purchased 13.5% of Zenseact shares from ECARX Co. Ltd., a firm that provides digital cockpit electronics, active safety electronics, unmanned driving sensors, and controllers for vehicles. Volvo Cars already owned 86.5% of the company before it bought the remaining percentage, so it now obtained 100% ownership.
According to Reuters, even after the deal where Volvo Cars purchased ECARX’s shares, Zeneact will remain a standalone company. Its operations will also continue as a separate entity from the carmaker. Then again, the discussions on cooperation between Zenseact and ECARX will still proceed as planned.
It was in 2021 when ECARX presented Zenseact with a strategic investment. At that time, the former asked for a 15% share in the software company. In that same year, the latter also signed a deal with Luminar Technologies to provide a combined hardware and software system to car manufacturers so there is also an ongoing partnership deal prior to the full acquisition.
This is a strategic move on the part of Volvo Car because it is considered the first step in owning more software that will give it more power in creating essential functionality for the car manufacturing process of future cars. This also supports the carmakers’ strategic goal of becoming a leader in new technology.
“With this transaction, Volvo Cars further clarifies and simplifies Zenseact ownership, making the AD software company a fully owned subsidiary of Volvo Cars,” Volvo stated in a press release. “Zenseact will continue to remain and operate as a standalone company and lead the development of safety, advanced driver assistance, and autonomous driving technologies for introduction first in Volvo and Polestar cars.”
Meanwhile, the buyout deal of a stake in Zenseact was completed on Dec. 31, 2022.
