Beijing, January 23, 2009—Shearman & Sterling served as US counsel to American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. in its formation of a joint venture with Hefei Automobile Axle Co, Ltd., (HAAC), a subsidiary of the JAC Group (Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co, Ltd). The new company, Hefei AAM Automotive Driveline & Chassis System Co., Ltd., will manufacture and sell rear beam axles, front axles, power transfer units, Rear Drive Modules and suspension modules for passenger cars, sport utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles for the China market. Each party will own 50 percent of the joint venture.

AAM is a world leader in the manufacture, engineering, design and validation of driveline and drivetrain systems and related components and modules for trucks, sport utility vehicles, passenger cars and crossover utility vehicles. The new joint venture will provide systems and components for JAC Automotive, a premier Chinese automotive OEM. The main products of JAC Automotive include a recently launched new generation of passenger cars, SUVs, MPVs and commercial vehicles.

The Shearman & Sterling team included partners Lee Edwards (Bejiing–M&A), Tina Patel (Menlo Park–Intellectual Property) and Larry Crouch (Menlo Park–Tax); and associates David Fu (Bejiing–M&A), Yongqing (William) Huang (Bejiing–M&A), Bei Ding (Bejiing–M&A) and Jordan Altman (New York–Intellectual Property).