Chinese buyers eager to acquire German technology are said to be in the final stages of negotiation with the private equity owners of German machinery manufacturer KraussMaffei (KM, Munich / Germany; www.krauss-maffei.com) about a takeover. A story by the news agency Reuters confirms earlier reports that the manufacturer of injection moulding and extrusion machinery was on the sale block – see Plasteurope.com of 21.06.2012.

The names of the bidders have not been disclosed. However, Reuters says Chinese rivals Haitian, Cheng Hsong and Long Hong are not believed to be among the final bidders in talks with investment bank Goldman Sachs. The owners hope to fetch as much as EUR 700m for the company, which had sales of around EUR 1 bn and undisclosed profits in fiscal 2010/2011 (30 September), the last period for which figures are available.

KM, which owns the brands KraussMaffei, Berstorff and Netstal, was part of Mannesman Plastics Machinery, acquired by Madison Capital Partners (Chicago, Illinois / USA; www.madisoncapitalpartners.net) in 2006 from New York-based leveraged buyout specialist Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR; www.kkr.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 21.07.2006. Injection moulding machinery manufacturer Demag Plastics Group was spun off after the takeover and sold in 2008 to Japan’s Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI, Tokyo; www.shi.co.jp) for EUR 77.5m – see Plasteurope.com of 13.03.2008.