SAIC injects auto-parts assets into Shanghai Bashi

Shanghai, June 2 (Gasgoo.com) Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) inject its unlisted auto-parts assets, valued at roughly 10 billion yuan ($1.44 billion), into Shanghai Bashi, operator of the city's bus transportation, local media reported on today.

Bus service provider Shanghai Bashi Industrial (Group) Co. said on Monday it would divest its public transportation assets and become a stock market listing vehicle for the SAIC group, China's biggest automaker. The Shanghai municipal government, which controls the SAIC group and Bashi, had approved the plan.

SAIC has been listing assets to improve its access to funding, as rapid expansion and acquisitions build it into a Chinese national car-making champion. But industry insiders said the merger of Shanghai Bashi by the SAIC group is not clinched yet, but the final result is expected to come out by June 23, when the Bashi shares resume trading.

In late 2006 SAIC injected major car-making assets into its listed arm SAIC Motor Corp through a $2.4 billion deal, and SAIC Motor is now in the process of taking over engine maker Shanghai Diesel Engine. Earlier this year the SAIC group completed a merger with Nanjing Automobile Co.