MAN receives approvals to buy 25 pct Sinotruk stakes

Shanghai, October 9 (Gasgoo.com) The German heavy truck maker MAN said that it had received approval from Chinese authorities to acquire a 25 percent stake in China's state-owned truck maker Sinotruk.

MAN said that it would pay C560 million ($823 million) to Sinotruk for a 25 percent plus one share stake in the Chinese partner. It added it would raise the cash through a capital increase, but didn't provide more details.

Through the deal MAN will become the company's second-biggest shareholder in Sinotruck, next to its parent China National Heavy Duty Truck Corp, which holding 51 percent.

Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive of MAN, said that, "China is a market of paramount importance with huge potential. We are pleased to be able to enter into this major partnership with Sinotruk in the country."

As part of the deal, MAN will license engine, chassis, axle and other technologies to Sinotruk as a basis for the production of a new series of heavy trucks at Sinotruk's existing plants, MAN said.

Sinotruk holds 25 per cent of the Chinese market and sold more than 100,000 trucks in 2008 with sales of C2.5 billion ($3.7 billion).