Caterpillar says settles Siwei deal with cut in purchase price

Caterpillar Inc and China-based Mining Machinery Ltd said on Thursday they have settled outstanding issues related to Caterpillar's acquisition of mining equipment firm ERA and its Siwei unit through a reduction in the purchase price.

As part of the deal announced on Thursday, Caterpillar's outstanding payment obligations to Mining Machinery were reduced by $135 million to $29.5 million.

Caterpillar reported in January that it had found "deliberate, multi-year, coordinated accounting misconduct" at Siwei.

The world's largest maker of construction equipment had acquired ERA for $653.4 million (HK$5.06 billion) from Mining Machinery last June.

Siwei is China's fourth-largest maker of hydraulic roof supports.

(Reporting by Pallavi Ail in Bangalore; Editing by Stephen Coates)