Wanxiang Wins U.S. Government Approval to Buy Battery Maker A123
This article is for subscribers only.
Wanxiang Group Co., China’s biggest auto-parts maker, won approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to buy most of the assets of A123 Systems Inc., the bankrupt electric-car battery maker backed with U.S. government funds.
Approval from CFIUS, as it is known, was the final hurdle that Wanxiang needed to overcome to complete the deal. The federal interagency group led by the Treasury Department was reviewing the sale after members of Congress expressed national-security concerns over allowing a foreign competitor to obtain the technology developed with government backing.