Kion, Shandong Heavy get 500 million euro to enhance cooperation

Germany's Kion Group , the world's second biggest maker of fork lift trucks, and shareholder Shandong Heavy <000338.SZ> are getting as much as 500 million euros ($647 million) in financing from the China Development Bank to support their cooperation, Kion said.

The two companies will also be receiving unspecified financial services from the bank as part of an agreement signed on Sunday at a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Kion said.

"The three parties agreed that Weichai Power and Kion will intensify their cooperation ... and that China Development Bank will provide a full range of financial services including financing of up to 500 million euros to support the expanded collaboration," Kion said.

Kion and Weichai Power were not immediately available to give more details.

The German company, together with its owners Goldman Sachs , buyout firm KKR and 25-percent shareholder Shandong Heavy, is monitoring the market for a potential share sale, Kion Chief Executive Gordon Riske said, German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Saturday.

Shandong bought its stake in Kion Group for 467 million euros in 2012, in what was the largest direct investment by a Chinese company in a German firm.

(Reporting by Peter Dinkloh; Editing by Marguerita Choy)