China faces surging labour costs and an ageing population one answer is to bring in the machines.
China's biggest home-appliance maker said on Wednesday that it intended to launch a takeover bid for Germany's Kuka at 115 per share in cash. The proposed offer by Shenzhen-listed Midea, which already owns a 13.5% stake in Kuka, values the German robotics firm at about 4.6 billion $5.2 billion.
Augsburg-headquartered Kuka, which counts car makers BMW and Audi among its clients, is already plugged into the fast-growing Chinese robotics market, having opened a plant in Shanghai in 2014. Its stated aim is to grow its...