Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, the potential buyer of GM’s Hummer brand, expects to persuade Chinese regulators to approve the transaction in spite of a report on China National Radio’s website saying that the Hummer acquistion will likely be blocked. John D. Stoll and Tess Stynes report for the Wall Street Journal:
The potential buyer of General Motors Corp.’s Hummer division will kick off formal discussions with Chinese regulators on Monday in an effort to win approval for its acquisition, according to people familiar with the matter.
[…]On Friday, a China National Radio report stoked speculation that Chinese regulators will block the deal because of environmental concerns connected to Hummer’s gas-hungry vehicles and the relative inexperience of Tengzhong as an auto maker.
But according to the people familiar with the matter, GM and Tengzhong have yet to formally present the transaction to the regulators responsible for reviewing it and the parties negotiating the deal haven’t been informed that the transaction is in trouble.
