Wanxiang gets green light to buy A123's assets
The purchase of US firm's businesses is still subject to approval of government agency
Wanxiang won court approval to buy most of the assets of A123 Systems, the failed electric-car battery maker backed with US government funds, for about US$256.6 million.
Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey approved the sale, which has raised concern from some lawmakers, at a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, saying "the auction was robust, the price is adequate".
The deal is still subject to review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, a federal interagency group led by the Treasury Department that reviews mergers and acquisitions for national security concerns when a takeover may give a foreigner control of a US company.
Wanxiang, China's biggest car-parts maker, will acquire substantially all of A123's assets, including its car, grid and commercial business.
A123 also received approval to sell its government business to Navitas Systems for about US$2.25 million.
"Given the fact that we more than double where we were at the beginning of the auction, I think everyone was pleased," A123's lawyer, DJ Baker, told the court. A123, which was awarded a federal grant of as much as US$249.1 million, held an auction last week where Wanxiang beat a joint bid from Johnson Controls and Japan's NEC.