Wanxiang buys bankrupt battery maker A123

Chinese auto parts maker Wanxiang Group Corp. on Sunday bought A123 Systems, the bankrupt battery maker which supplies Fisker Automotive and others.?

By Antony Ingram,?Guest blogger / December 10, 2012

In this August 2009 file photo, an A123 Systems Inc. high power Nanophospate Lithium Ion Cell for Hybrid Electric Vehicles battery is displayed in Livonia, Mich. Chinese auto parts maker Wanxiang Group Corp. fought off a joint bid from US parts company Johnson Controls Inc. and Japan's NEC Corp, to buy A123.

AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File

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A123 Systems, the bankrupt battery maker which supplies Fisker Automotive and others, has finally found a buyer.

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Chinese?auto?parts maker Wanxiang Group Corp. fought off a joint bid from U.S. parts company Johnson Controls Inc. and Japan's NEC Corp, with a bid of $256.6 million.

Reuters?reports that A123's government business arm, which works with the U.S. Defense Department, has been separately sold to Navitas Systems for $2.25 million.

The sale to Wanxiang must now be approved by Delaware Bankruptcy Court judge Kevin Carey, at a hearing on Tuesday.?

Opposition to the sale may focus on approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States--and some politicians and retired military leaders have already vocalized their concerns about the sale.

If the sale is approved, it will draw to a close a long sale process?which has been ongoing since August. A bailout from the Chinese firm initially stalled when A123 couldn't meet certain criteria imposed by Wanxiang, which eventually led to the company's bankruptcy.

If A123 is in safer hands, electric automaker Fisker Automotive will be hoping production and supply quickly re-starts.

The?luxury?automaker?has had to stall its own production?due to short supply of battery packs--and the firm describes its inventory as "getting low".

Other?vehicles?supplied by A123 Systems include the?Via Motors electric truck, the?2014 Chevrolet Spark EV, and BMW ActiveHybrid 3 and 5 models.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/zvJLmV4fbes/Wanxiang-buys-bankrupt-battery-maker-A123

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