China posed to buy bankrupt Huffy

Just found this article posted at
http://www.centurychina.com/cgi-bin/...&v=2&gV =0&p=

I didn't know Huffy went bankrupt. Perhaps someone should let China's
government know that Huffy is the(?) premier maker of beater bikes
only. I wonder what the point of the acquisition is, as it certainly
cannot be to obtain new technical skills.

Speaking of which, I was under the impression that the PRC makes
hundreds of millions of bikes a year already. Why they would be
interested in a beater bike manufacturer is beyond me.

Later,
Nelson Chen

__o Same road Boycott Wal-Mart, union-buster.
_`\,_ Same rights
(_)/ (_) Same rules

China poised to take over U.S. Huffy bikes
Tue Jun 28, 2005 07:40 PM ET
(Recasts with background on China's bid for American corporate assets,
Huffy's history)

NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Chinese suppliers and an agent of China's
government are poised to take control of Huffy Corp. (HUFCQ.PK: Quote,
Profile, Research) , a venerable U.S. brand name, as the bicycle maker
restructures under bankruptcy protection, it said on Tuesday.

Huffy, making bikes for Americans for more than a century, said it had
agreed to a reorganization plan which would allow it to terminate its
staff pension plans. The company would turn responsibility for the
benefits over to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a unit of the
federal government that insures pension plans.

The proposal also would give the suppliers that make its bicycles in
China and the China Export & Credit Insurance Corp. the right to elect
a majority of its board of directors and earn up to 51 percent of its
new common voting stock over five years.

snip

wrote:

Speaking of which, I was under the impression that the PRC makes
hundreds of millions of bikes a year already. Why they would be
interested in a beater bike manufacturer is beyond me.

Basically for the name. I imagine most of the production facilities are
in China already.

Also, China has been making more investments in the US lately. Which
makes sense, they can only buy up *so* much of our debt to prop up
the dollar. I'm sure they'll get a better return on their dollar
by buying companies than bonds.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"He's a born-again Christian. The trouble is, he suffered
brain damage during rebirth." -Anonymous

wrote:

Speaking of which, I was under the impression that the PRC makes
hundreds of millions of bikes a year already. Why they would be
interested in a beater bike manufacturer is beyond me.

Maybe they think the technology can be used for military applications.

NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Chinese suppliers and an agent of China's
government are poised to take control of Huffy Corp.

Huffy, making bikes for Americans for more than a century, said it had
agreed to a reorganization plan which would allow it to terminate its
staff pension plans.

Oh, thats's cute. Another corporation's going to ditch their pension plan.
And the US Govt allows it. Thank you, Mr. Bush. Another chance to screw the
little guy.

Art Harris

On 2005-06-29, wrote:
Speaking of which, I was under the impression that the PRC makes
hundreds of millions of bikes a year already. Why they would be
interested in a beater bike manufacturer is beyond me.

My impression is this and it may be totally of, but bear with me. China
has stepped up war-gaming and arming itself recently. Especially buying
equipment like amphibious landers that are obviously intended for
invading Taiwan.

Now all of a sudden they're on a US corporation buying spree at almost
the EXACT same time that the US is trying to get tough with them over
their currency. How I read this is that China sees that this may be
their one chance to use the huge trade imbalance, before the US takes
any action to correct that balance artificially. We know the imbalance
won't be corrected by us manufacturing less stuff in China, so it's
going to be by forcing China, via the WTO, to change how they trade
their currency.

So I see this as a long term attempt to first of all take control of
large parts of the manufacturing sector, top to bottom. Huffy may be no
Trek or Giant or Bianchi, but I'm pretty sure they still sell a lot of
bikes. And if China owns Huffy (assuming Huffy isn't already made in
China) it will forever be made in China. Those are the two competing
nations for our cheep manufacturing business, Taiwan and China. So every
company that is sending business to China is not sending business to
Taiwan. They're also trying to purchase Westinghouse this week. Another
bargain basement manufacturer of goods.

So it looks to me at least like they're trying to take away as much
business as possible from Taiwain. And, if they get enough leverage,
perhaps up and down the supply chain they can influence other parts that
are made in Taiwan. I know that may seem paranoid or nuts, but coupled
with their war gaming and their attempt to buy Unocal, it sure looks
like China is trying to spend the money, while they have it, on
controlling...

#1 - Where goods are manufactured
#2 - Part of the West's oil supply

If they succeed, perhaps it weakens the US and Taiwan economically and
strategically. And no, by strategically I didn't mean Huffy. I know we
don't use Huffies in combat. I meant Unocal.

Just my wild-eyed conspiracy theory.

Preston

Preston Crawford wrote:
How I read this is that China sees that this may be
their one chance to use the huge trade imbalance, before the US takes
any action to correct that balance artificially.

Interesting post! But on the currency question--don't you think that a
fixed rmb/US$ exchange is already a bit "artificial?"

Compared to the bikes they ride in China, Huffies are high-end.



Speaking of which, I was under the impression that the PRC makes
hundreds of millions of bikes a year already. Why they would be
interested in a beater bike manufacturer is beyond me.

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 18:01:34 -0400, Gary Smiley wrote:

Compared to the bikes they ride in China, Huffies are high-end.

I'll take a Flying Pigeon over a disposable Huffy MTB any day...

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 12:04:18 -0500, Preston Crawford
wrote:

On 2005-06-29, wrote:
Speaking of which, I was under the impression that the PRC makes
hundreds of millions of bikes a year already. Why they would be
interested in a beater bike manufacturer is beyond me.

My impression is this and it may be totally of, but bear with me. China
has stepped up war-gaming and arming itself recently. Especially buying
equipment like amphibious landers that are obviously intended for
invading Taiwan.


They won't need a war to take over the US. They are buying it as our
military/corporate state allows. After all, what do multinational
companies care about countries? They are global. They want to break
down national boundries and destroy labor protections.

Dear Lord. If they get both Huffy and Unical, what will be left?

wrote in message
oups.com...
Just found this article posted at
http://www.centurychina.com/cgi-bin/...&v=2&gV =0&p=

I didn't know Huffy went bankrupt. Perhaps someone should let China's
government know that Huffy is the(?) premier maker of beater bikes
only. I wonder what the point of the acquisition is, as it certainly
cannot be to obtain new technical skills.

Speaking of which, I was under the impression that the PRC makes
hundreds of millions of bikes a year already. Why they would be
interested in a beater bike manufacturer is beyond me.

Later,
Nelson Chen

__o Same road Boycott Wal-Mart, union-buster.
_`\,_ Same rights
(_)/ (_) Same rules

China poised to take over U.S. Huffy bikes
Tue Jun 28, 2005 07:40 PM ET
(Recasts with background on China's bid for American corporate assets,
Huffy's history)

NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Chinese suppliers and an agent of China's
government are poised to take control of Huffy Corp. (HUFCQ.PK: Quote,
Profile, Research) , a venerable U.S. brand name, as the bicycle maker
restructures under bankruptcy protection, it said on Tuesday.

Huffy, making bikes for Americans for more than a century, said it had
agreed to a reorganization plan which would allow it to terminate its
staff pension plans. The company would turn responsibility for the
benefits over to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a unit of the
federal government that insures pension plans.

The proposal also would give the suppliers that make its bicycles in
China and the China Export & Credit Insurance Corp. the right to elect
a majority of its board of directors and earn up to 51 percent of its
new common voting stock over five years.

snip


This could be justice, since the corporate executives who closed the U.S.
manufacturing factories and moved it all to China will probably loose their
jobs also.