Tehran Stock Exchange; Iranian Government Sells Its Own Shares On Saipa

On 21 July 2010, in compliance with the privatization scheme, a block equivalent to 18 percent, 1,872 million stocks of the state - owned company, Saipa (the second largest auto maker in Iran) were offered by the Iran Privatization Organization on Tehran Stock Exchange and were sold at the price of 8,460 Rial ($0.80) per share with the total value of 15,837 Billion Rial ($1.5 billion). The buyer must pay 30% of the amount cash on delivery and 70% deferred in 5 years.

Saipa was established in 1966, assembled the two-cylinder Citroën mini passenger car, the Dyane, and manufactured licensed versions of the original Renault 5, Renault 21 and Kia Pride. Production of the Saipa Pride continued until 2005 when then they introduced an updated model based on the Pride called the Saipa 141 while continuing to sell their version of the Pride under the names Saba and Nasim. SAIPA also produces the Citroën Xantia under license as well as assembling sedan models of the previous generation Kia Rio using parts imported from Korea.Other product are the Renault Tondar 90, a Renault Logan assembled by SAIPA and its subsidiary Pars Khodro in a joint venture with Renault know as Renault Pars, with over 100,000 orders within a week of it going on sale in March 2007. In December 2008, Saipa unveiled its new model: "Tiba/Miniator". Tiba has a 4-cylinder gas engine and ABS, averages 7 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers and15,000 Tiba will be produced in 2009.