The Financial Times: China’s Nanjing Automobile to buy Rover
Excerpt:
Nanjing Automobile, China’s oldest vehicle manufacturer, on Friday night bought MG Rover, the failed Birmingham carmaker, for a little more than £50m ($87m)..
…The deal will frustrate rival bidder Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, China’s biggest carmaker, and set the stage for a legal battle between the two state-owned manufacturers.
The outcome is likely to prove controversial as Nanjing plans to create fewer British jobs than either SAIC’s bid or that of David James, the corporate troubleshooter backed by property entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz. But Tony Lomas, administrator, said Nanjing’s bid was “materially higher” than others…
…Nanjing is planning to ship much of the Rover equipment from Birmingham to a plant in eastern China. It also wants to start production in the West Midlands probably at Rover’s Longbridge plant of the MG TF sports car and the MG ZT saloon…
…The bidding for Rover is thought to be the first example of competition for foreign purchases by Chinese companies, which until recently were subject to central government control.
SAIC and Nanjing could end up in court, as SAIC believes it owns the designs to Rover’s small and large cars and the engines, for which it paid £67m last year before the collapse…