CARLYLE CLEARS CHINA DEAL HURDLE
Carlyle, the US private equity group, has passed an important step in its controversial effort to acquire a stake in a Chinese construction equipment company after a key government agency gave its approval to the deal.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac), the government body which controls state-owned companies, decided Carlyle could take a 50 per cent stake in Xugong Construction Machinery, a person familiar with the situation said.
However, although he said Carlyle was now confident of getting final confirmation, the company still needs the approval of the Ministry of Commerce and the stock market regulator before the deal can go ahead.
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Xugong also said that Sasac had given the green light for the deal.
Carlyle announced last October that it had agreed to pay $375m for an 85 per cent stake in Xugong, a listed company whose parent group is controlled by the local government of Xuzhou city in Jiangsu province.
More than a year later, however, the deal has yet to win approval in Beijing and became caught up in a backlash over foreign investment in the Chinese economy at a time when the government has been selling minority stakes in large banks.
Rival construction group Sany Heavy Industry conducted a fierce campaign against the proposed take-over, including a heavily nationalist weblog penned by the company's chief executive. In a bid to overcome political resistance, Carlyle and Xugong changed the terms of the deal last month to make it a joint venture, with Carlyle taking a 50 per cent stake in the Chinese company.
A person familiar with the situation said: "This deal has cleared an important hurdle and everyone connected is hopeful that the remaining ministries will now grant approval in the next few weeks."
Sasac would not have approved the deal unless other departments in Beijing felt broadly comfortable with it, he said
凯雷入股徐工机械 中国国资委点头
美国私人股本公司凯雷集团(Carlyle Group)收购徐工机械(Xugong Construction Machinery)股份的交易，已获得一个关键政府部门的批准，标志这笔有争议的交易通过重要一关。
一位知情人士表示，负责掌控国有企业的国务院国有资产监督管理委员会(Sasac，国资委)决定，凯雷集团可以收购徐工机械50%的股份。
然而，他表示，尽管凯雷集团现在有信心获得最终批准，但这笔交易仍需获得商务部(Ministry of Commerce)及证券市场监管机构的批准。
徐工机械也表示，国资委已对这笔交易开了绿灯。
凯雷集团去年10月份宣布，同意支付3.75亿美元，收购徐工机械85%的股份。徐工机械是一家上市公司，其母公司是江苏省徐州市政府控制的一家集团。
然而，这笔交易在宣布一年多以后，仍未获得中央政府批准。而随着政府向外资出售大型银行的少数股权，引起国内对外资进入中国的反对情绪，这笔交易也成为人们的攻击对象。
徐工机械的竞争对手――三一重工(Sany Heavy Industry)对这笔交易发起了猛烈的舆论攻势，该公司首席执行官甚至利用博客来表达强烈的民族主义情绪。为了克服政治方面的阻力，凯雷集团和徐工机械上月将交易条款改为组建一家合资公司，由凯雷集团持有这家中国企业50%的股份。
一位知情人士表示：“这笔交易已清除了一个重要障碍，所有相关人士都希望其余部委能在未来几周内批准这笔交易。”
他表示，除非中央政府其它部委已大致认可，否则国资委不会批准这笔交易。
