Siemens and NEC Added to List of A123 Buyers

Ronnie Schreiber
by Ronnie Schreiber

In the bankruptcy auction for EV battery maker A123 that begins today, Reuters is reporting that NEC of Japan and Siemens of Germany are going to join China’s Wangxiang and Wisconsin’s Johnson Controls in bidding for the entire company.

In addition to those trying to buy the company in toto there are also reported to be a number of interests looking to salvage individual pieces of the battery company, like its brand new but well underutilized factory in Holland, Michigan. If either NEC, Siemens or Wangxiang wins the auction they would probably still need the approbation of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The U.S. government has also indicated that it will have to approve any purchase that involves transferring the $249 million Dept. of Energy grant that A123 was given. All of the bodies that have to give their approval are in the executive branch, so politics may enter into the decision. The Pope is also a Roman Catholic and bears indeed defecate in the woods. National security is a part of the equation as well because A123 has at least one contract for the Pentagon that is classified. All of that seems to favor the one domestic bidder, Johnson Controls.

Ronnie Schreiber
Ronnie Schreiber

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, the original 3D car site.

More by Ronnie Schreiber

Comments
Join the conversation
 5 comments
  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Dec 06, 2012

    It would be most ironic if NEC snagged A123, since NEC makes the Leaf battery. But I think Johnson Controls will get it. And someone should be asking where the taxpayers' money went.

    • Kyree Kyree on Dec 07, 2012

      Doesn't Johnson Controls do something with GM?

  • Forraymond Forraymond on Dec 06, 2012

    All the taxpayers money went to fund the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and down the toilet known as Iraq.

    • See 1 previous
    • Rnc Rnc on Dec 07, 2012

      @ranwhenparked "it was done with the best information available at the time", that's an incredibly depressing joke.

Next