Germany denies interfering in Chinese bid for robot maker Kuka

Germany denied interfering in Chinese home appliance maker Midea's 4.5 billion euro ($5 billion) bid for industrial robot maker Kuka on Friday, saying it was not organising a rival offer. German media have reported that German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel wanted to forge an alliance of German or European firms to prevent a sale to the Chinese company, but the economy ministry denied this. Kuka has become the latest and biggest German industrial technology group to be targeted by a Chinese buy