Microsoft investment in Sichuan Changhong blocked

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's securities regulator has blocked a deal under which Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) and other firms were to invest in Sichuan Changhong Electric Co (600839.SS), the Chinese home appliance maker said on Friday.

In the middle of this year, Sichuan Changhong said it planned to place up to 400 million new shares with no more than 10 investors, to finance asset purchases.

Microsoft agreed to buy 15 million of the shares at 6.27 yuan each, paying 94 million yuan ($12.9 million) for a stake of nearly 1 percent in the company, Sichuan Changhong said.

But the company said on Friday that the share placement did not receive approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. It did not say whether it would revise the placement and seek approval again, and did not mention Microsoft by name.

It was not known why the regulator did not approve the placement, but in the past it has sometimes withheld approval when a firm's share price has risen sharply since the announcement of a share sale, valuing the sale at prices well below the market.

Sichuan Changhong's shares closed at 8.95 yuan on Wednesday, before a suspension.

The Chinese company had said earlier this year that in addition to the sale of a stake, Sichuan Changhong and Microsoft would cooperate in developing, making and marketing televisions, computers and other digital home-entertainment products.

($1 = 7.30 Yuan)

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia, editing by Ken Wills)