Sany eyes more deals in emerging markets

"European firms are usually easier targets than big United States-based companies as they are small in size, but strong in manufacturing techniques," said Zeng Guang'an, president of Liugong Group.

Heavy machinery products from China also enjoy considerable cost and quality advantages over their counterparts from the US, Europe and Japan, said industry sources.

Sany said in September that it would list its subsidiary Shanghai Sany Heavy Machinery Co on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and divest up to 30 percent of its equity. "Sany is likely to capitalize on the booming stock market and use the money for more M&A deals," Pan said.

Profits decline 48%

The company posted a net profit drop of 48.34 percent from the same period last year in the first half of 2014.

With a net profit of 1.37 billion yuan ($222.9 million), the company registered a business revenue of 19.72 billion yuan in the first six months, according to a statement it filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Sunday.

The revenue was a 10.7-percent decline from the same period last year, said SANY.

It attributed the profit and revenue drops to "market adjustment," without giving detailed reasons.

The performance could also be attributed to a surge in "financing expenditures," which jumped 156.58 percent year on year in the first half.

However, Sany is optimistic about its growth prospects in the medium-to-long term thanks to "continuous improvement in the country's regional, industrial and urban-rural structure."

The company also cited "increased infrastructure demand in railways, urban mass transit and water conservancy projects, and opportunities brought about by the development of other emerging economies" as reasons for optimism.

In the first six months of this year, SANY sold more concreting machinery than any other competitor worldwide and more excavating machinery than anyone else in China. These sales were worth 10.12 billion yuan and 4.88 billion yuan, respectively.