EU approves joint venture by China's HAPM, Canada's Magna in automotive sector

BRUSSELS — The European Commission gave the green light to a joint venture by Chinese and Canadian companies in the automotive sector on Thursday, saying it raised no competition concerns.

The joint venture, signed between China's Hubei Aviation Precision Machinery Technology (HAPM) and Magna International of Canada, will not be active within the European Economic Area, the executive arm concluded in a statement.

The case was under review after the Commission, which oversees the bloc's competition policy, received notification a month ago, according to the statement.

HAPM is a supplier of automotive seat mechanism and structure components while Magna is a global automotive supplier with 317 manufacturing operations and 102 product developments, engineering and sales centers in 29 countries and regions.

In May, the two sides agreed to establish a green-field joint venture company, located in China and worth up to 1.49 billion yuan ($221.8 million), for the manufacture and sale of components for automotive seats for the Chinese market, said HAPM on its website.

The joint venture deal is expected to be concluded between September and December, HAPM noted.

The EU, as well as other major economies, screens mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures between multinationals under anti-trust regulations.