|
Midea looked set to secure a 52.8 percent stake in Kuka on
Monday after shareholders Voith and Friedhelm Loh sold their
stakes to the Chinese bidder. Midea launched a 4.5 billion-euro
($5 billion) offer for Kuka in May.
The bid is the largest yet by a Chinese buyer for a German
industrial technology company, and it has sparked protests by
some Berlin politicians concerned about key know-how falling
into foreign hands.
"We hope that all countries can treat overseas mergers and
acquisitions by Chinese enterprises objectively and fairly, and
give fair treatment to these kinds of normal business
activities, and also create a transparent and reasonable
business environment," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hong Lei in a regular briefing in response to a question about
the deal.
He said Chinese companies acted independently in terms of their
business decisions, including overseas acquisitions.
Kuka already sells 25 to 30 percent of its robots in China, the
firm's chief has said.
China, which has made increased automation in manufacturing a
top priority, is the world's biggest industrial robot market,
although growth in demand slowed to 17 percent last year from 56
percent a year earlier.
The government has also worked to encourage companies to buy up
strategic assets in a number of sectors including food and
technology, though regulators in the west have sometimes baulked
at Chinese bids to acquire closely guarded or unique
technologies.
(Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
