Midea Group Co, China’s biggest maker of home appliances, announced on Wednesday its intention to launch a voluntary takeover offer for all shares in KUKA AG, a leading global supplier of intelligent automation solutions. It’s already helping Midea to automate its factories, after the Chinese company doubled its stake to around 10 percent earlier this year, Reuter said in March. State-owned China National Chemical Corp.
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The detailed public takeover offer awaits approval of BaFin, Germany’s financial services regulator, and will be made public once that is received, Midea added. The company reported a net profit of 3.9 billion yuan ($598 million) in the first quarter of this year.
Midea’s shares remain suspended in Shenzhen following the announcement on Wednesday.
GE sold the business to another Chinese company, Haier Group for $5.4 billion.
German privately held engineering company Voith Group holds 25 percent in Kuka, with another 10 percent being held by German billionaire Friedhelm Loh via his holding company.
One person familiar with the matter said that Midea is considering lifting its stake in Kuka to above 30 percent but doesn’t necessarily seek to gain more than 50 percent or buy Kuka altogether.
Midea has previously announced its intent to increase its stake in Kuka, and the current bid is to keep in line with regulatory framework that makes it mandatory for an acquiring company to make an open offer for all issued shares of the company being acquired, if its stake exceeds 30 percent.
Analysts said the investment could give Midea technological know-how in an area with growth potential in China, while expanding Kuka’s customers in the world’s workshop.
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Ulrike Dauer and Eyk Henning in Frankfurt contributed to this article.
