Two Chinese companies have announced major Australian acquisitions on Friday. China Communications Construction International (CCCI) is buying construction company John Holland for A$1.15 billion ($951 million), and ID Leisure International Capital has acquired cinema chain The Hoyts Group for A$900 million ($743 million).

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CCCI is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), which is the world's fourth largest construction firm by revenue, reports BBC News.  John Holland, which is a unit of Australia's Leighton Holdings, built Australia's parliament building, and reported annual revenue of A$4.5 billion in 2013. About 4,100 of the unit's 5,000 workers will transfer to the new business, Leighton Holdings said in a statement Friday.

Meanwhile, China's ID Leisure International Capital has signed a deal to acquire Australia's second largest cinema chain The Hoyts Group from buyout firm Pacific Equity Partners for approximately A$900 million ($743 million), reports Reuters. ID Leisure is an investment vehicle owned by Chinese real estate billionaire Sun Xishuang.

Pacific Equity, Australia's largest private equity firm, originally planned to publicly float Hoyts early next year, but instead decoded to sell to ID Leisure. According to Reuters, opting for private sale over a public one indicates companies are not so hot on the Austrlian IPO market.

Xishuang is a major shareholder of China's Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co Ltd, which acquired U.S.-based AMC Theatres for $2.6 billion two years ago.

Pacific Equity has hired investment bank UBS to help close the sale of the cinema chain. The buyout group bought Hoyts from a consortium involving Australian casino billionaire James Packer for A$440 million in 2007.

TagsChinese Firms Buy Up Major Australian Companies, China Communications Construction International, ID Leisure International Capital, The Hoyts Group, Leighton Holdings, John Holland, Pacific Equity Partners