Carlyle May Reduce Stake in Xugong Takeover to 50%

Carlyle May Reduce Stake in Xugong Takeover to 50% The Carlyle Group is reportedly planning to reduce its stake from 85% to not more than 50% in its latest move to takeover China's Xugong Construction Machinery. Local Chinese newspapers quoted an unnamed source from Carlyle as saying that the reduction in stake will increase its chances of passing Chinese regulatory review. In October last year, Carlyle agreed to pay US$375 million for an 85% stake in Xugong, which has annual sales of RMB17 billion. But the succeeding stages of negotiations reached an impasse as critics of the deal argued that Xugong was being sold at too low a price and Xugong's domestic rivals complained they were being discriminated against in the bid for the company.