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BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese appliances giant Midea is waiting to see if a new acquisition offer can win over the shareholders of German industrial robotics firm Kuka and allow it to buy enough shares to become the majority shareholder.
Midea is hoping to buy about 43.74 percent of Kuka's shares to go with its existing holding of 13.5 percent in the Augsburg-based company.
However, following public and official concerns in Germany that the takeover might lead to losses of technology and local jobs, Midea and Kuka unveiled an investor agreement which includes a commitment to keep its existing headquarters, factories and jobs earlier this week.
Midea made the acquisition offer to Kuka in mid-June. Under the initial arrangements, Kuka had until July 15 to decide on the bid, which values the company at more than four billion euros.
There is huge demand for robotics in China, where officials are trying to raise manufacturers' productivity. Since 2013, China has bought more industrial robots each year than any other country and it is expected to be the world's biggest operator of industrial robots in 2018. Many Chinese robotics companies have tried to raise their competitiveness through overseas M&As.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for foreign objectivity on overseas M&As by Chinese companies and "a reasonable and transparent business environment for them."
"Such normal business behavior should be granted fair treatment," said Hong Lei.
