Shanghai Electric among firms targeting Comau

    CHINESE firms, including Shanghai Electric, have approached Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) to express an interest in buying its Comau robotics business, sources familiar with the matter said.

    Any deal would follow a wave of European acquisitions by Chinese firms as they seek global scale and could help FCA pay down debt as well as fund an expensive investment plan. Chinese conglomerate Sinomach and Shanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (Simee) have also approached FCA over a possible bid for Comau, hoping to persuade FCA boss Sergio Marchionne to sell the Turin-based specialist in welding robots, one of the sources said.

    Wal-Mart increases investment in JD.com

    WAL-MART Stores Inc. has nearly doubled its investment in China’s second-largest online retailer, a move that would give it observer status at JD.com Inc.’s board meetings, The Wall Street Journal quoted a source as saying last week.

    The Arkansas-based retailer had opened a roughly 5.9 percent stake in the Chinese online retailer in June as part of a deal under which it sold its Chinese e-commerce business to JD.com. Under the terms of that deal, the source said that the U.S.-based retail giant could increase its stake, gaining observer status. The only JD.com strategic partner that currently has a board seat is Shenzhen-based Tencent Holdings Ltd.

    Cosco, China Shipping to merge shipbuilding arms

    CHINA’S two biggest shipping companies plan to merge 11 shipbuilding yards into a single entity in one of the industry’s biggest consolidation moves yet as ship orders hit record lows, according to sources familiar with the matter.

    If it goes ahead, the merger of the shipyards of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., or Cosco Group, and China Shipping Group Co. is expected to be announced by early next year, the sources said. The two companies had already combined their fleets and port operations last year to create China Cosco Holdings, the world’s fourth biggest container operator in terms of capacity. The combination of their shipbuilding arms will create China’s third-biggest shipbuilding group.