China’s Midea Group bids for greater ownership of robot maker KUKA; German company’s shares surge
KUKA’s stock price gains over 30 per cent.
Chinese home appliance manufacturer Midea Group said today it intends to take a stake in one of the world’s leading manufacturers of robotic systems — KUKA AG, headquartered in Augsburg, Germany.
Midea said in a statement it would like its ownership in KUKA to be above 30 per cent but had no plans to delist the German company, regardless of the result of the takeover offer.
The offer is being made through Midea’s affiliate MECCA International (BVI). The deal values KUKA at about 4.5 billion euros (HK$39.35 billion) and will be one of the largest unsolicited bids ever made for a foreign company by a Chinese buyer.
Midea’s efforts came after China’s ongoing frenzy in mergers and acquisitions in the technology industry. China has overtaken the United States for the first time as the world’s biggest “acquiring nation” for mergers and acquisitions in the technology industry, accounting for a 45 per cent share of the market in the first four months of this year, according to Dealogic.
We would like to have a meaningful stake in KUKA of above 30 per cent
China’s outbound technology-related mergers and acquisitions reached a new annual high of US$17.6 billion for 69 transactions in the first four months of this year, topping the US$14.9 billion recorded for the whole of last year.