Sany to take over German firm Putzmeister

China's construction equipment giant Sany Heavy Industry is to take over Putzmeister, a German engineering firm, in a 360-million-euro deal, the company said in a statement posted on Shanghai Stock Exchange's website Monday.

According to the statement, Sany's wholly-owned subsidiary Sany Germany GmbH will pay 324 million euros to own 90 percent of Putzmeister's shares.

The remaining 10 percent would be purchased by China's CITIC Funds, said the document, endorsed by all 12 board members who attended the company's executive board meeting on Jan 20.

It said the takeover deal was reached on the same date with two shareholders of Putzmeister Holding GmbH, namely Karl Schlecht Stiftung that held 99 percent of the shares and Karl Schlecht Familienstiftung that held the remaining 1 percent.

It said the deal would be completed on Mar 1, or on the 5th working day after all terms and conditions for the transaction were met or exempted -- whichever date that came later would prevail.

Putzmeister, founded in 1958, is a family-owned firm based in Aichtal. It employs 3,000 people and reported an estimated annual revenue of 560 million euros last year.

Sany said that the deal would allow the way to upgrading the Chinese company's research, development and innovation capacities, improve its international operation and management expertise and lead to the creation of a global leader in concrete machinery production.

In another statement at the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Sany forecast a 50 to 60 percent year-on-year rise in its net profits last year. In 2010, the company made 5.6 billion yuan (US$886.9 million) in net profits.

Sany, founded in 1989, is based in Changsha, capital of the Central Hunan province.