Carlyle could buy state-owned Xuzhou

The US Carlyle Group could become the first foreign group to buy control of a big, state-owned Chinese Mainland company, the Standard of Hong Kong reported Friday, citing market sources. Carlyle has agreed to pay up to US$300 million for an 85% stake in Xuzhou Construction Machinery, China's largest maker of construction equipment, according to people familiar with the deal. Recently the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Company was denied approval to buy US oil rival Unocal; some irate US Congressmen called CNOOC's bid menacing, and asserted that China would never permit a foreign country to buy one of its major companies.