March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Daimler AG, the world’s second- largest maker of luxury cars, will sell 1.95 billion euros ($2.7 billion) of shares to Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments PJSC, raising cash as it grapples with the deepening global recession and gaining a long-term shareholder.

Aabar will buy 96.4 million new Daimler shares for 20.27 euros apiece, the Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker said in a statement today. The price equates to a 5 percent discount to Friday’s close of 21.34 euros.

“It’s a win-win situation for both companies,” said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen. “It’s an attractive price for Abu Dhabi, and it’s good for Daimler to raise cash and get a long-term investor, because the next two years will be very hard.”

In the span of a few months, Daimler has gone from a buyer of its shares to a seller, reflecting the sharp turnaround in the auto industry. The automaker announced plans to buy 6 billion euros of its own stock on June 17. At the time, its stock traded at 45 euros. The company then halted the program in October, as financial crisis began to stifle demand.

Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks, is countering the worst auto-industry crisis in decades by cutting car production in Germany and closing truck plants in North America. The company, also the world’s largest truck maker, lost 1.53 billion euros in the fourth quarter, burdened by declining sales and expenses related to former U.S. arm Chrysler LLC.

Major Shareholder

“We are delighted to welcome Aabar as a new major shareholder that is supportive of our corporate strategy,” Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said in the statement. “We look forward to working together to pursue joint strategic initiatives.”

Daimler has underperformed its nearest competitor Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the No. 1 luxury carmaker. Daimler’s shares have fallen 20 percent this year, while BMW rose 1.7 percent.

Aabar’s stake will total 9.1 percent after the capital increase, exceeding Kuwait’s stake of 6.9 percent and making it the largest shareholder, Daimler said. The investment fund’s biggest stakeholder is International Petroleum Investment Co., owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. Aabar approached Daimler about the investment, said Thomas Froehlich, a spokesman for the automaker in Stuttgart.

‘Iconic Brand’

“Daimler is an iconic brand and a financially strong company,” said Aabar Chairman Khadem al-Qubaisi in the statement. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to make this investment and are excited by the commercial potential of our partnership.”

Daimler and Aabar intend to cooperate on the development of electric vehicles and new materials for auto production as well as establish a training center in Abu Dhabi.

Aabar agreed in December to pay 307 million Swiss francs ($272 million) and assume 100 million francs in debt to take over the Swiss-based private banking unit of American International Group Inc. Aabar was advised on the Daimler investment by Goldman Sachs, spokesman Ben Burton said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Reiter in Berlin at creiter2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 22, 2009 16:30 EDT