BEIJING, September 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- King & Wood Mallesons successfully advised the Chinese manufacturing company Weichai Power Co., Ltd. (Weichai Power) on its direct investment of EUR 738 million in German forklift truck manufacturer Kion Group, which is the leading forklift truck supplier in Europe and China. Weichai Power will acquire a 25 percent stake in Kion and another 70 percent in Linde, the hydraulics division of Kion.
Weichai Holding Group Co., Ltd., founded in 1946, is the largest wholly-owned subsidiary of Shandong Heavy Industry Group. It is one of the leading heavy equipment suppliers in China, which offers a comprehensive product line that includes commercial vehicles and heavy machinery, with 30,000 employees worldwide. The Group reported its revenue reached RMB 91.1 billion in the year of 2010 and with RMB 100 billion of its listed capitalization. Weichai Power is dual listed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
As learned from the companies, the deal is the largest-ever direct investment by a Chinese business in Germany. The King & Wood Mallesons team was fully engaged in the structuring, negotiation and transaction to assisted Weichai Power to sign off the agreements. "King & Wood Mallesons is our long-term strategic partner. They provide us with complete legal services in this project with outstanding professionalism and service excellence. Their full-range of legal services is the one of key factors to succeed," Weichai Power stated.
King & Wood Mallesons acted as the lead counsel. The project was led by Xu Ping and Mark Schaub.
