Joy Global in negotiations for International Mining Machinery

Mining machinery producer Joy Global (JOYG.NASDAQ) is in talks to acquire Chinese mining equipment firm International Mining Machinery Holdings (1683.HK), Bloomberg reported, citing two unnamed sources. International Mining Machinery has a market value of about US$1.09 billion, based on its share price on July 11. Trading has been suspended pending the deal. Joy’s CEO, Michael Sutherlin, has said that his firm would “aggressively” pursue growth in underground mining equipment. It recently competed a US$1.1 billion acquisition of LeTourneau Technologies. Jordan Company, a private-equity firm, took a 41% stake in International Mining in 2006, and is in talks to sell its equity as part of the Joy takeover. Under Hong Kong Stock Exchange regulations, the transfer of equity from Jordan to Joy would require Joy to make an offer for the rest of the firm.