Xuzhou Machinery to buy Chunlan Auto for $39 mln

Xuzhou Construction Machinery Science & Technology Co 000425.SZ, a maker of construction equipment, said on Thursday it would pay 270 million yuan ($39.36 million) for a 60 percent stake in Jiangsu Chunlan Automobile.

The purchase will allow Xuzhou access to the heavy truck industry, copying the development path of global leading equipment makers such as Volvo, the company said in a statement published in the China Securities Journal.

Chunlan Automobile, based in the eastern province of Jiangsu, is a medium-sized Chinese auto maker that produces five series of heavy trucks, Xuzhou said.

Shares in Xuzhou have been suspended since early June pending an announcement on "a major transaction". Xuzhou has said that it planned to issue new shares to its parent company in exchange for industrial assets.

The move comes after efforts by U.S. investment firm Carlyle Group to buy its parent, Xugong Group Construction Machinery Co.

Carlyle has been trying for nearly three years to purchase a stake but has failed to win approval from the Chinese government.