China's Wanxiang wins auction for troubled US hybrid-car maker Fisker

China's Wanxiang Group won an auction for Fisker Automotive, a maker of luxury plug-in hybrid cars, with a US$149.2 million bid, almost six times what the US company was seeking when it filed for bankruptcy.

In winning the four-day auction, which went through 19 rounds of bidding, Wanxiang topped Hybrid Tech, a company led by Richard Li Tzar-kai, the son of Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing. Wanxiang was founded by billionaire Lu Guanqiu.

Wanxiang's offer included US$126.2 million in cash and US$8 million in assumed liabilities, Fisker said in a statement. US bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross was scheduled to consider approving the sale on Tuesday.

When it filed for bankruptcy in November, Fisker asked Gross to let Hybrid buy the company for about US$25 million.

Hybrid last year paid the US Energy Department US$25 million for the right to collect a US government loan that Fisker had defaulted on without making a payment.

Unsecured creditors objected to the price and helped bring in Wanxiang, China's largest car-parts supplier, in December.