In 2016, which Chinese company acquired the German robotics firm Kuka?

In 2016, China’s Midea Group acquired the German robotics firm KUKA.

Midea announced a public tender offer in June 2016, offering €115 per KUKA share and valuing the transaction at roughly €4.5 billion. KUKA’s management and supervisory board recommended that shareholders accept the offer, while the deal attracted political attention because KUKA was a major German industrial-automation company.

By the end of the offer period, Midea’s stake reached 94.55 percent. Regulatory approvals, including U.S. national-security reviews, delayed final settlement until January 6, 2017, even though the takeover was agreed and pursued in 2016.

KUKA was founded in Augsburg in 1898 and became known worldwide for industrial robots, especially in automotive manufacturing. The company remained headquartered in Augsburg and continued operating as a robotics and automation business within Midea.