Chinese company wins bid for battery maker A123

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

NEW YORK (AP) - Bankrupt battery maker A123 Systems Inc. on Sunday said it will sell most of its assets to the U.S. arm of Chinese auto parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group Corp. for $256.6 million.

Wanxiang America Corp. won an auction conducted under the supervision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

A123's government business will be sold separately, for $2.25 million, to Navitas Systems, of Woodridge, Ill.

A hearing seeking the necessary court approval of the sale is scheduled for Tuesday. The deal must also be okayed by the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States, a federal inter-agency committee that reviews sales of U.S. companies to foreign owners. The company has about 2,000 employees.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20121209/DA32GMVO2.html

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In this Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, file photo, an A123 Systems Inc. high power Nanophospate Lithium Ion Cell for Hybrid Electric Vehicles battery is displayed in Livonia, Mich. Bankrupt battery maker A123 Systems Inc. on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, said it will sell most of its assets to the U.S. arm of Chinese auto parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group Corp. for $256.6 million. Wanxiang America Corp. won an auction conducted under the supervision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

[leveymg]

1. All power to the People's Republic! (Just kidding)

But, its sure looks like someone got a real deal on this engineered business failure. Same thing with the assets of Solindra. Same thing with Husky Oil. Same thing with the uranium holdings the Chinese bought, and the shale oil, and the gas refineries, and so on, and so forth in North America, and all around the world.

[banned from Kos]

2. maybe, but crude oil and natural gas prices are falling

which makes alternative energy expensive in comparison.

[Purveyor]

5. LOL... I paid $3.95 for a gallon of heating oil to heat this crib. Heating oil without the road

tax that the cleaner burning 'diesel fuel' the truckers are paying.

Guess what? I can go over to the local truck stop and buy diesel fuel, which burns better and cleaner in my furnace for $3.94.

Yes, I sent my recently re-elected Sen. Staebnow, who is on the Senate 'Energy Committe' a inquiry on this disparity but, now that she is good for another 6 years...I doubt I'll get a reply
as I haven't heard a 'peep' in over a week.

Wish my furnace burned gasoline. I can buy that for $3.34.

Go figure.

[Omaha Steve]

7. I hate to tell you this...

I used to deliver home heating oil 20 some years ago. Diesel #2 and home heating oil #2 are the same exact product. Just no diesel road tax on the home fuel. Same thing with #1. #1 burns cleaner and doesn't gel. But there are fewer BTU's, so you use more.

What hurts is that a station gets a bulk rate versus your small amount order. It is common for homes with larger tanks to get a good discount compared to a 275 gallon tank.

OS

[triplepoint]

3. The American Way--A Real Tradition

Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. (nasdaq stock symbol: alti) went the same way. Now, it ALSO is majority owned by a mainland Chinese company. We fund their start-up, and then down the road, the Chinese buy them for a "song." Lather, rinse, repeat and soberly expect a different result. Definitely a mental condition in the collective mind of the U.S. Taxpayers. If the Chinese can't steal or "borg" a technology they lust for, they'll resort to buying it outright for pennies on the dollar.

[leveymg]

4. Unfortunately, even though cos. are legal people, there's no capital punishment for murder

of firms and commercial cannibalism. The fraud statutes don't encompass this sort of wholesale looting and dismemberment of industries, and the governing elites think it's normal so long as they get their slice.

Crime is infuriating.

[trouble.smith]

6. I wonder if the Chinese Government subsidized the winning bid?

or, more precisely, to what extent they subsidized the winning bid.

[NecklyTyler]

8. For some reason I thought Johnson Controls bought the US manufacturing facilities

Does this mean the Chinese just bought the technology patents and are going to move manufacturing to China?