Terex reported 2015 fourth-quarter income from continuing operations of $14.6 million on net sales of $1.6 billion, versus income from continuing operations of $79.9 million on net sales of $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Konecranes has offered 0.8 of its shares for each Terex share. It has argued that the two companies can face the downturn in their cyclical industry more effectively if they join forces, and that the shareholders of the combined companies will reap substantial profits in an upturn.

Westport, Connecticut-based Terex has 97 so-called priority-rated contracts with the US government that could attract scrutiny from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). It also provides mobile harbor cranes in ports that are seen as a critical part of U.S. infrastructure.

However, Terex is not treating CFIUS as an issue that would preclude any deal with Zoomlion. The value of Terex's priority-rated government contracts is small and not material to Terex's business, Reuters reported in January.

The company's ports business in North America is also small, with its biggest contract being a $75 million order for automated equipment at the Long Beach port in California.

Zoomlion is a publicly listed company, with the Chinese province of Hunan as its biggest shareholder with a roughly 16 percent share. It is led by researcher-turned entrepreneur Chunxin Zhan, who founded Zoomlion in 1992 with seven other partners with a loan of 500,000 yuan ($77,000).

Zoomlion now has a market value of 31.8 billion yuan ($4.9 billion). It has acquired significant stakes in six other companies in five countries over the last two decades, and is now present in more than 80 countries.

In 2008, Zoomlion acquired Italy's CIFA, the world's third largest concrete machinery maker. Zoomlion's business also includes other crane machinery, sanitation, earth moving equipment, and financial lease services.