A123 Systems says it is preparing for a closing of transactions in its asset purchase agreements with Wanxiang America and Navitas Systems that could take place next week. 

The Chinese company requires approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for its purchase of A123, with former suitor, Johnson Controls (JCI) waiting in the wings should regulatory permission not be forthcoming.

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A123 currently expects that the transactions will close pursuant to the terms set forth in the asset purchase agreements by 1 February.

At last week’s Auto Show in Detroit, Johnson Controls power solutions [batteries] president, Alex Molinari, told just-auto: “There is no reason not to be interested.

“We were interested in the first place and we remain interested. CFIUS has a process that we really can’t affect and it is a process [in which] they do all their own research with the cabinet departments.

“It is kind of hard to know what is going to happen. It has got to be available and it is not available. For us it was really not about China – it was more around some of the technologies. At the right cost it made a lot of sense.”

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A123 chose Wanxiang’s offer of US$257m against a set of complementary bids from JCI for the automotive and government assets and NEC for the grid and commercial assets.

Molinaroli also took the opportunity to rebuff speculation JCI would have reduced the workforce had it won the tender for A123.

CFIUS is an inter-agency committee authorised to review transactions that could result in control of a US business by a foreign person in order to determine the effect of such transactions on what it describes as “national security”.