China conditionally approves American Axle's acquisition of Dowlais Group stake

China's market regulator said on Friday it had conditionally approved United States' American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings' acquisition of a stake in British automotive supplier Dowlais Group, imposing remedies aimed at safeguarding competition in key automotive components markets.

In a statement, the State Administration for Market Regulation said the deal involves major global suppliers of automotive driveline systems, a critical set of components that transmit power within vehicles and are essential to vehicle safety and driving stability.

The regulator said its review focused on the potential impact of the transaction on competition in China's markets for automotive power transmission units and rear-wheel-drive modules, where the combined entity could gain greater market influence.

To address these concerns, the regulator approved the transaction subject to restrictive conditions, under which American Axle and Dowlais committed to four undertakings. These are supplying products on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, offering downstream customers continued access to product development opportunities, honoring existing contracts, maintaining price stability, and not refusing reasonable requests for contract renewals.

The commitments are intended to help ensure reasonable pricing and stable supply of high-performance automotive components, protect the interests of downstream customers and consumers, and preserve a level playing field in China's auto industry, the regulator said.

chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn