US approves Wanxiang's $257m purchase of A123 (2)

"We've been in the battery business for more than 10 years, so it's a natural expansion," Ni said. "Whoever is available, we will be interested."

Mergers and acquisitions have long been a key part of the strategy in the US for the company, which completed five deals in 2012.

Still, he acknowledged that the lobbying effort had been difficult. "This is the most politically complicated issue in the past few years," Ni said.

Wanxiang's bankruptcy-auction bid for A123 was higher than that submitted jointly by Wisconsin-based Johnson Controls Inc, which makes batteries and other automotive equipment, Japan's NEC Corp and German conglomerate Siemens AG.

Johnson Controls had appealed a US bankruptcy judge's approval of Wanxiang as the winner.

"Everyone has the right to have their voice heard, so you can hear from both sides. But this just means this asset (A123) is very valuable from their point of view," Ni said.

A123 received $249 million in grants from the US Department of Energy in 2009 to build a factory in Michigan, but the company struggled until filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors last October.

That was just two months after Wanxiang came forward with a $465 million offer for the battery maker's automotive-business assets, pushing aside a planned sale to Johnson Controls. The initial Wanxiang offer, however, didn't succeed.

"Given the overwhelming difficulties on the political side of this particular deal, that does mean if you know how to handle it, and handle it professionally and rationally, you might still be OK," Ni said, referring the CFIUS review.

While lawmakers could ask for a briefing on its decision, CFIUS has no appeal process.

Wanxiang entered the US market in 1994 and now has manufacturing operations in 14 states. Its US operations generate annual revenue of about $2.5 billion and employ 6,000 people.