A Chinese home-appliance maker is looking to clinch its second big overseas takeover in two months with an offer for Kuka that values the German automation group at €4.6bn.

Midea said yesterday that it had offered €115 a share for Kuka, which makes industrial robots used by Audi, BMW and Boeing. The offer is a 60 per cent premium on Kuka’s undisturbed price on February 3, before Midea said that it had raised its stake to 10 per cent.

That stake has risen to 13 per cent, and Midea was obliged under German law to make an offer for the rest of the shares because it planned to increase its stake beyond 30 per cent. Kuka said it would review the offer and consider public opinion. A person familiar with the offer said that Midea was “well aware” that Berlin would be wary about a Chinese company taking over a company connected to industrial data.