In 2016 the Chinese appliance maker Midea offered 115 euros per share, about 4.6 billion euros in total, for Kuka, the robot maker from Augsburg. The federal government tried in vain to prevent the takeover. It did not want future technology to move from Germany to China. Critics feared that Midea could pull patents, data and other know-how out of Kuka. Midea’s stake rose to more than 90 percent. In November 2021 Midea demanded a squeeze-out of the remaining shareholders, and Kuka left the stock exchange.