Factbox - China develops an appetite for German technology firms

REUTERS - The German government withdrew its approval for a Chinese takeover of chip equipment maker Aixtron on Monday, citing security concerns and throwing up an unexpected hurdle for a 670-million-euro ($728 million) deal on the home stretch. The decision to review the takeover comes amid rising concern over whether the government should do more to protect strategic technologies following a series of bids for German companies by Chinese investors this year. Following is a list of other recent major takeover deals and offers for all or part of German companies by Chinese firms: OSRAM Chinese chipmaker Sanan Optoelectronics said two weeks ago it had had "preliminary contact" with German lighting group Osram - whose market valuation is 6 billion euros - regarding a potential acquisition or cooperation deal. ALBA INTERNATIONAL HOLDING Chengdu Techcent Environment agreed last week to acquire assets in Germany's ALBA worth more than 300 million euros. BROETJE-AUTOMATION China's Shanghai Electric Group bought German aviation equipment manufacturer BAW for HK$1.7 billion ($219 million) in August. LEDVANCE Osram agreed in July to sell Ledvance, a general lighting lamps business it had carved out, to a Chinese consortium for more than 300 million euros. KION Weichei Power took a 25 percent stake in German forklift truck maker Kion in 2012. After Kion's initial public offering in 2013, Weichei gradually increased its stake. It took part in a July placement of new shares, and its 40 percent shareholding is today worth 2.5 billion euros. MEERWIND China Three Gorges, which operates the world's largest hydropower plant on the Yangtze river, will buy German offshore wind park Meerwind from U.S. buyout firm Blackstone for an estimated 1.6 billion euros, the companies said in June. KUKA Chinese home appliance maker Midea Group made an offer on May 18 to buy Kuka, valuing the German factory robot manufacturer at around 4.5 billion euros, in by far the most expensive bid so far by a Chinese investor to gain control of German industrial technology. ENERGY FROM WASTE Beijing Enterprise agreed in February to buy Energy from Waste from Swedish buyout group EQT in a deal valuing the German waste management company at about 1.8 billion euros, as China sets about tackling its pollution and waste recycling problems. KRAUSMAFFEI A group of Chinese investors including China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) agreed in January to buy plastics processing machinery maker KraussMaffei Group GmbH for 925 million euros from Canada's Onex Corp, at the time the biggest-ever Chinese investment into Germany. HAUCK & AUFHAEUSER Fosun International agreed last July to buy German private bank Hauck & Aufhaeuser for up to 210 million euros, in what would be the first Chinese takeover of a German bank. German financial watchdog Bafin is still reviewing the planned takeover. ($1 = 7.7576 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 0.8928 euros) (Reporting by Alexander Huebner; Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Mark Heinrich)