Lesson for IBM Notes: Ford bought Volvo, killed R&D, sold it at a loss to Geely for $1.3 Billion who turned R&D back on and increased the value of Volvo by 3,000%

Eugen Tarnow  March 1 2018 04:31:02 AM

I visited Sweden and found out that Chinese companies are taking over the industrial base.

Volvo Cars is an interesting example.  

Ford bought Volvo in 1999 for $6.45 billion. Relevant to IBM's acquisition of Lotus Notes, Ford decided to kill R&D at Volvo. As the economy went down in the US, Volvo Cars started to become a money losing proposition and Ford sold it to Chinese Geely for $1.3 billion in 2010.

I was told that Geely then turned R&D back on and, as a result, Volvo is now worth $40 billion.

The reason Geely turned R&D back on is presumably that they want to buy the know how and import it to China. But in the process, they created a company that made money again.

IBM bought Lotus Notes in 1995. R&D stopped around 2000 when IBM turned it into a cash cow. IBM is now "selling" it to HCL, an outsourcer with no record of any R&D that I am aware of.

Here in the US there is no interest in Lotus Notes.  It is "not sexy" to the private equity companies I am told. They are not too swift - if Geely can multiply the worth of a company by 30, a good US software company could do it as well.

The Chinese seem to have a better taste for R&D than companies in Sweden or the US. In addition to buying Volvo, Geely created China Euro Vehicle Technology AB to do research and bring it home to China.

Buffett bought IBM for its sexiness and sold it when it lost it.  He had no interest in Lotus Notes. He is not too swift either.

It looks we need the Chinese to help Lotus Notes.

As always, I reserve the right to be wrong.


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