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Tengzhong agrees with GM to extend Hummer deadline

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-02-01 15:15

Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co said on Monday that it has agreed with General Motors to push back the deadline its purchase of the Hummer brand by a month to the end of February.

The definitive agreement for the sale of Hummer to Tengzhong, a little-known machinery maker in southwestern China, expired on Jan 31, according to a contract signed in October 2009.

"GM and Tengzhong agreed to extend the deadline to the end of February," Tengzhong said in a statement, adding that the company was waiting for approval from Beijing to close the deal.

Tengzhong has said it started communicating with Chinese regulatory bodies after signing the deal in 2009.

"We will do our best to cooperate with the approval process," the company said in its statement.

However, China's Ministry of Commerce, which is responsible for the approval of outbound investment by Chinese companies, has repeatedly said it has not received an application from Tengzhong for approval of the purchase.

The Ministry did not respond to a faxed inquiry from Reuters seeking comment.

Hummer Chief Executive Jim Taylor said the transaction approval process was not proceeding as quickly as originally expected, but his company was optimistic about progress so far, Bloomberg reported earlier.