Tengzhong Hummer deal nearing completion

China’s National Day holiday ended yesterday and that means everyone is walking slowly to their desks this morning trying to make the holiday last that little bit longer. Not so for Chinese companies, which have been busy over China’s 60th anniversary working on international business deals. First among the pack is Tengzhong Heavy Machinery’s proposed purchase of Hummer from General Motors. According to people close to the deal a US$150 billion agreement could be reached soon. The deal would be the first major acquisition of a distressed US auto asset during the global economic downturn. Speaking of distressed assets, China Minsheng Bank is looking to do some buying of its own. The bank is seeking regulatory approval to increase its holding in San Francisco-based UCBH Holdings from 9.6% to 50%. US experts said the purchase would be a "good step" for Mingsheng, especially given the size of their investment over the last two years. Minsheng have invested US$126 million into UCBH since October 2007, even though shares in the US bank have declined by 97% in that time. CNPC International was also busy over the holiday. The company paired up with BP to sign an initial agreement to develop Rumaila, the 17.8 billion barrel southern Iraqi oil field which was one of six sites offered to foreign firms. The consortium is now waiting for the deal to be approved by the Iraqi cabinet. But how profitable the deal will be for the two companies remains to be seen. US company Exxon Mobil dropped out of the bidding process after refusing to cut its payment from US$4.80 per barrel produced. And even the consortium was forced to cut their price to just US$2 per barrel from an initial price of US$3.99.