China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) announced Monday it has agreed to buy German plastic and rubber machinery manufacturer KraussMaffei Group for $1.01 billion, funded by a consortium with Jiangsu Guoxin Investment Group Limited and AGIC Capital. The deal, the largest Chinese outbound investment into Germany, is expected to close in the first half of 2016.
KraussMaffei will retain its headquarters in Munich and plans to add more jobs in Germany this year. As part of ChemChina, KraussMaffei now has more access to the Chinese market where it supplies plastic machinery to the growing needs of lightweight components in the automotive industry.
Acquiring KraussMaffei’s management and technical expertise will position ChemChina as the leader of the ‘Made in China 2015’ plan to strengthen manufacturing capabilities. ChemChina’s global expansion includes acquiring Italian tile maker Pirelli & Co SPA for $7.7 billion in March 2015.
