A private Chinese company, Jack Holding Group Company Ltd., has signed a letter of intent to buy Europe's largest sewing machine maker, PFAFF industrie Maschinen AG (PIM), the Oriental Morning Post reported on Tuesday.

"We have signed a letter of intent with PIM and a due diligence report is underway to check the latter's asset quality and financial risks," said an official from Jack Holding yesterday. "The deal is expected to be sealed in early April."

The official did not provide the price of the deal. He said PIM will hive off its related debt and shed frontline workers before an agreement is signed.

Based in Kaiserslautern, Germany, PIM was established in 1862 and is the largest sewing machine maker in Europe. The company filed for bankruptcy last September after having reported losses for three years in a row.

"Our company's products are highly consistent with those of PIM and we will be able to maximize operational efficiency with lowest cost (after the acquisition)," said the Jack Holding official.

Zhejiang-based Jack Holding is China's leading sewing machine maker. Its sales volume reached 1.02 billion yuan in 2008 with an export growth of 36 percent.

For more details, please check out the Chinese coverage at:

http://www.dfdaily.com/node2/node27/node120/userobject1ai158665.shtml

(China.org.cn March 17, 2009)