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Midea raises stake in German robot maker KUKA to 86 pct

Xinhua, July 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

GUANGZHOU, July 21 (Xinhua) - Midea Group, China's major home appliance manufacturer, announced Wednesday that it would soon hold an almost 86 percent stake in German robot maker KUKA AG, to strengthen its presence in the robotics industry.

An additional 72.18 percent of shares in KUKA were tendered on July 15, adding to the 13.51 percent that Midea already holds in the German firm, the company said on its website.

In June, Midea announced an offer of 115 euros (about 127 U.S. dollars) per KUKA share, which is higher than the current trading level of around 107 euros, valuing the German firm at about 5 billion U.S. dollars.

Shareholders of KUKA who have not tendered their shares still have until Aug. 3 to sell their stake to Midea, according to the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act.

The deal will create significant synergy, with Midea committing approximately 1 billion yuan (about 150 million U.S. dollars) in automation to improve production efficiency and quality. The Chinese home appliance maker can help KUKA expand in the Chinese market, said Shenwan Hongyuan Securities in a research note.

"We have reached an important milestone in expanding our partnership with KUKA to deliver greater value for both companies. " said Paul Fang, chairman and chief executive of Midea, "We want to help grow KUKA and increase its footprint, especially in China."

Midea Group has been rapidly expanding into the robotics industry in a bid to speed up automation. In 2015, Midea entered two joint ventures with Japanese robot maker Yaskawa, trying to satisfy its automation needs. Endi