Hamburg -- Volkswagen AG and two Middle Eastern partners will buy LeasePlan Corp., a global fleet management company, from ABN Amro Holding NV for $2.3 billion, Bloomberg Europe reported last week. Volkswagen will buy 50 percent of LeasePlan, with the Saudi Arabian Olayan Group and the Abu Dhabi state-owned Mubadala Development Co. each taking a 25 percent stake, Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder said at the annual meeting in Hamburg. Volkswagen plans to sell its own leasing business, Europcar Fleet Services, to LeasePlan. Volkswagen had tried to buy LeasePlan in 2001, but at the time ABN Amro decided then to keep the unit. Although Volkswagen will be a major shareholder in the company, the firm insisted LeasePlan would retain complete independence as a leasing company.
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