《纽约时报》周二援引知情人士的话报导,通用汽车公司(General Motors Corp., GMGMQ)已经与中国四川腾中重工机械有限公司(Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co.)达成初步协议,将把悍马(Hummer)品牌出售给后者。
上述不愿透露姓名的知情人士称,这家民营企业位于中国西南部的成都市。该交易还需要获得中国中央政府主管部门的批准。
通用汽车周二早间在底特律宣布了上述交易,但其表示,根据与卖方达成的谅解备忘录,不能公开卖方的相关资料和收购价格。
通用汽车宣布已和购买悍马买家达成谅解备忘录
通用汽车公司今天正式对外宣布已和购买其豪华越野品牌悍马的买家达成了谅解备忘录。该交易是通用汽车公司对悍马品牌进行战略评估及公司重建后的必然结果。此次交易预计在第三季度末完成,但是还必须符合特别成交条件,包括得到相关法律批复。
此次交易有望确保全美范围内和生产、开发及悍马经销权相关的超过3000个工作岗位。该交易同时包括投资者积极的投资计划,以便确保悍马产品的未来研发。根据谅解备忘录的规定,此时不便透露悍马品牌买家及协议所涉及的具体财务方面的信息。
通用汽车计划剥离旗下8个美国品牌中的4个,放弃土星(Saturn)、萨博(Saab)和悍马并停产庞蒂克(Pontiac)。
据早前媒体报道,悍马品牌曾收到包括一家中国投资者在内的多家团体的收购意向,而竞标额在略低于5亿美元左右。该知情人士表示,在上周末未能按照预期达成协议后,通用汽车与两家竞标者的谈判仍在继续。
目前通用汽车已经为悍马品牌选定一名竞标者,并预计于9月底正式出售。通用汽车稍后才会公布悍马品牌买家的身份。通用汽车将继续在路易斯安那和印第安纳州的工厂生产悍马H2,H3卡车以及SUV车型。周二通用汽车将会公布该买家的承诺,即在继续生产悍马旗下车型的同时,还将在时机成熟时开发代用燃料车型。
熟悉该交易的人士表示,如果在6月初前,通用汽车未能寻找到合适的买家,悍马品牌很可能将会被破产法院关闭。
背景介绍
四川腾中重工机械有限公司原为四川腾中机械设备制造有限公司,注册成立于二零零五年一月,于二零零八年一月更名为四川腾中重工机械有限公司。
作为一家由四川省成都市发展起来的民营企业,四川腾中重工机械有限公司自二零零五年成立以来通过一系列成功的兼并收购迅速拓展业务领域,现已发展成为一个在全国各地拥有众多销售和服务中心,涉足特种车辆、道桥构件、建筑机械、新能源、石化设备产业的现代重工企业,并于2007及2008年连续两年获得机械行业《纳税大户》称号。
公司总部位于四川成都,拥有多个生产园区。公司全部占地面积1525亩,厂房面积233000㎡ 。现有员工4800余人。
腾中重工生产大中型载重货车、自卸车、挂车、拖车、混凝土运输搅拌车、大型油罐车、油料运输槽车等特种车辆,拥有先进的生产制造、检测生产线。
四川腾中重工机械有限公司也是中国桥梁支座、伸缩缝装置、预应力体系、筑养路机械老牌生产基地。公司分别与1997年取得ISO9001国际标准认证,2004年取得全国首批工业产品生产许可证,2006年首批通过CRCC铁路支座产品认证。一大批创新型新产品频频创中国企业记录。桥梁支座荣获四川省名牌产品称号。产品主要用于长江、黄河、跨海大桥,市政桥梁和轻轨工程,建筑场馆,航空基础设施,重点高速公路,水利水电领域,并出口国外。
腾中重工拥有40多年生产建筑工程机械的历史,共有8大类30余种产品,其中“利州”牌混凝土搅拌机系列产品连续六届获四川省人民政府“名牌产品”称号。
腾中重工同时还涉足石油化工产业的钻、采、探、压井、修井、固井等机械设备以及化工成套设备,能源装备。
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Report: Hummer sold to Chinese company
By TOM KRISHER and BREE FOWLER, The Associated Press
DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. took a key step toward its downsizing on Tuesday, striking a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand, while also revealing that it has potential buyers for its Saturn and Saab brands.
GM has a tenatative agreement to sell its rugged Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. of China, said a person briefed on the deal.
The Detroit automaker announced Tuesday morning that it had a memorandum of understanding to sell the brand of rugged SUVs, but the buyer's identity was not released. A formal announcement of the buyer was to be made Tuesday afternoon.
Sichuan Tengzhong deals in road construction, plastics, resins and other industrial products, but Hummer would be its first step into the automotive business, said the person briefed on the deal. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the details have not been made public.
GM said the sale will likely save more than 3,000 U.S. jobs in manufacturing, engineering and at various Hummer dealerships.
As part of the proposed transaction, GM said, Hummer will continue to contract vehicle manufacturing and business services from GM during a transitional period. For example, GM's Shreveport, La., assembly plant would continue to contract to assemble the H3 and H3T through at least 2010.
Continue reading for more details on the sale of Hummer.
The automaker also said Tuesday that it has 16 buyers interested in purchasing its Saturn brand, while three parties are interested in the Swedish Saab brand.
Chief Financial Officer Ray Young told reporters and industry analysts on a conference call that GM is continuing to pursue manufacturing agreements with a new Saturn buyer.
GM would like to sell the money-losing Saturn brand's dealership network, contracting with the new buyer to make some of its cars while the buyer gets other vehicles from different manufacturers.
At the same time, bridge loan discussions with the Swedish government are progressing, Young said.
GM, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Monday, is racing to remake itself as a smaller, leaner automaker. It is hoping to follow the lead of fellow U.S. automaker Chrysler LLC by transforming its most profitable assets into a new company in just 30 days and emerging from bankruptcy protection soon after.
But GM is much larger and complex than its Auburn Hills-based rival and isn't up against Chrysler's tight June 15 deadline to close its deal with Fiat.
Sharon Lindstrom, managing director at business consulting firm Protiviti, said the companies pose different challenges. But as with Chrysler, she notes that the Treasury Department made sure many of GM's moving parts were in order ahead of time so a quick bankruptcy reorganization might be possible.
"They had a lot of their ducks in a row because the terms of the government financing forced them to get all the parties to the table in a very, very short period of time," Lindstrom said.
In addition to its plan to sell the Hummer, Saab and Saturn brands, GM will also phase out its Pontiac brand, concentrating on its Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC nameplates.
Separately, the German government said Tuesday it paid out the first euro300 million ($425 million) in bridge loans to GM's Adam Opel GmbH division. The loans are part of a deal to shrink GM's stake in Opel and shield it from GM's bankruptcy protection filing in the U.S.
Over the weekend, the German government agreed to lend Opel $2.1 billion. The loans are part of a deal in which Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. and Russian-owned Sberbank will acquire 55 percent of the company.
A sale of the Hummer brand had been expected. Chief Executive Fritz Henderson had said in April that the automaker was expecting final bids from three potential buyers within the month.
Critics had seized on the rugged but fuel-inefficient Hummer as a symbol of excess as GM's financial troubles grew and gas prices rose. Sales at Hummer, which is known for models like the H3 with military-vehicle roots, have been in a steep slide since gasoline prices rose to record heights last summer. For the first four months of this year, Hummer sales are down 67 percent.
GM nailed down deals with its union and a majority of its bondholders and arranged to sell off most of its Opel operations in Europe in order to appear in court Monday with a near-complete plan to quickly emerge with a chance to become profitable.
The government has said it expects GM to come out of bankruptcy protection within 60 to 90 days. By comparison, the judge overseeing Chrysler's case approved the sale of its assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat Group SpA in just over a month. Some industry observers think Chrysler could emerge as early as this week.
During Monday's hearing, GM attorney Harvey Miller stressed the magnitude of the case and the importance of moving GM through court oversight as fast as possible. He noted that the automaker only has about $2 billion in cash left.
"If there's going to be a recovery of value, it's absolutely crucial that a sale take place as soon as possible," Miller said in his opening statement.
The automaker wants to sell the bulk of its assets to a new company in which the U.S. government will take a 60 percent ownership stake. The Canadian government would take 12.5 percent of the "New GM," with the United Auto Workers union getting 17.5 percent and unsecured bondholders receiving 10 percent. Existing shareholders are expected to be wiped out.
Attorneys for GM stakeholders packed the stuffy courtroom well ahead of the automaker's first-day Chapter 11 hearing. U.S. Judge Robert Gerber moved swiftly through the agenda's more than 25 mostly procedural motions.
Gerber set GM's sale hearing for June 30, putting it on a path similar to that of Chrysler. Objections are due on June 19, with any competing bids required to be submitted by June 22.
Gerber also gave GM immediate access to $15 billion in government financing to get it through the next few weeks, and interim approval for use of a total $33.3 billion in financing, with final approval slated to be ruled on June 25. The funds are contingent on GM's sale being approved by July 10. Gerber also approved motions allowing the company to pay certain prebankruptcy wages, along with supplier and shipping costs.
The sheer size of GM makes it a more complicated case than Chrysler.
GM made twice as many vehicles as Chrysler's 1.5 million last year and employs 235,000 people compared with Chrysler's 54,000. GM also has plants and operations in many more countries, meaning it will likely have to strike separate deals to navigate the bankruptcy laws of those places.
Henderson said GM has learned a few things by watching Chrysler's case.
"Certainly the court showed that it can address 363 (sale) transactions in an expeditious fashion," Henderson said at a news conference Monday. "Particularly in our case with what will be a very large 363 transaction."
GM's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is the largest ever for an industrial company. GM, which said it has $172.81 billion in debt and $82.29 billion in assets, had received about $20 billion in low-interest loans before entering bankruptcy protection.