China's Midea Group offered a $5.1 billion bid to take over German industrial robot maker Kuka AG on May 18, but now German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel and his ministry are trying to organize a European consortium to block and counter the bid. Kuka, the world's largest manufacturer of robotics for automobile manufacturing and one of the top manufacturers for general industry, is a strategic asset for China and Germany. If the deal goes through, it would be the largest takeover of a German firm by a Chinese firm ever. It would also be the second major acquisition by a Chinese firm this year, the first being ChemChina's $1 billion acquisition of plastics machinery maker KraussMaffei in March.