Geely Chairman Li Shufu (front left) and Ford's Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth celebrate at the takeover deal signing ceremony at the headquarters of Volvo Cars in Goteborg in Sweden on March 28, 2010. [Xinhua]

GOTEBORG, Sweden - China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group signed a deal with Ford Motor Co here on Sunday to acquire the US auto giant's Volvo car unit for nearly $1.8 billion.

The deal was inked by Geely Chairman Li Shufu and Ford's Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth at the headquarters of Volvo Cars in the second largest city of Sweden.

The Swedish carmaker, which has about 20,000 workers, was purchased by Ford in 1999 for $6.45 million.

But Ford had been attempting to sell Volo since late 2008, due to its poor market performance. Geely was named as the preferred bidder for the Swedish subsidiary in October 2009.

Geely, which started to manufacture cars in 1998, is a major private automaker headquartered in southeast China's Zhejiang province. Geely Holding Group is the parent company of Geely Automobile Holdings.