Daimler will book a first-quarter gain of 265 million euros ($360.5 million) from selling

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its stake in India's Tata Motors, helping the German carmaker offset an expected hit from its EADS stake.

"Tata Motors' share price has risen significantly, especially last year, so Daimler will receive a substantial cash inflow of approximately 300 million euros from the sale of its shares," a company statement said.

"The transaction will have a positive effect on Daimler's EBIT of approximately 265 million euros and will be accounted for in the first quarter of 2010."

Reuters had reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Daimler was selling its entire 5.34 stake in Tata via block deals in the open market.

The income from the Tata stake sale will help Daimler counter an expected writedown triggered by its 22.5 percent stake in aerospace group EADS, which last week announced a fresh 1.8 billion euro provision for its delayed A400M military transport plane project.

Daimler, a founding shareholder in EADS, has said it would have to book its share of the EADS accounting loss in its first-quarter results, which would be 405 million euros before tax, according to Reuters calculations.