An unnamed Chinese company has reportedly made a EUR 1 bn bid to acquire German plastics machinery producer KraussMaffei Group (KM, Munich; www.kraussmaffei.com). Reuters reports that the Asian company would like to finalise the deal before Chinese New Year, which falls in early February. Seller would be Canadian investor Onex (Toronto; www.onex.com), which acquired KM from Madison Capital Partners (Chicago, Illinois / USA; www.madisoncapitalpartners.net) in 2012 (see Plasteurope.com of 27.09.2012).

Onex declined to comment when approached by Reuters, but the news agency points out that when the Canadian investor acquired KM in 2012, a number of Chinese players were said to be interested in the machinery maker, too. They included China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina, Beijing / China; www.chemchina.com.cn) and Haitian International (Hong Kong / China; www.haitianinter.com).

The news agency reports that the deal – which values KM at seven times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation – could still fall through, or that counterbids could be made.