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Visteon and Special Situations Venture
Partners II sign agreement for the sale of certain chassis
operations
Visteon Corporation and Special
Situations Venture Partners II L.P. (SSVP II), advised by
private equity firm Orlando Management GmbH, have reached a
final agreement under which SSVP II will acquire certain Visteon
chassis businesses in Europe and Brazil.
The final transaction
has received anti-trust clearance in Germany and is expected to
be completed in Europe in the second quarter of 2007 and in
Brazil during the third quarter.
The agreement covers Visteon’s chassis
operations in Dueren and Wuelfrath, Germany, and Praszka,
Poland, and certain driveline assets in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The
facilities manufacture driveline and steering systems for a
number of global vehicle manufacturers. Terms of the agreement
were not disclosed.
“This agreement is an important part of
Visteon’s plan to restructure our business, improve our base
operations and position the company for growth,” said Don
Stebbins, president and chief operating officer.
“These actions
demonstrate the progress Visteon is making in addressing
underperforming and non-strategic facilities. When finalized,
this transaction will enhance our ability to focus on growing
our core product areas where we have strong market positions and
enable these facilities to create value under a new ownership
structure where the products have a better strategic fit.”
Under the agreement, Visteon will transfer the
manufacturing facilities and associated assets, including machinery,
equipment, tooling, inventory as well as purchase and supply contracts
and certain intellectual property rights to SSVP II. The approximately
2,400 employees currently employed in the facilities will also transfer
to the new owner.
The new name of the chassis operation will be
TeDrive, and it is SSVP II’s intention to structure the acquired
entities under the Dutch TeDrive Holding B.V. with the affiliates
TeDrive Germany GmbH in Dueren, TeDrive Steering GmbH in Wuelfrath,
TeDrive Poland Sp. Z.o.o. in Praszka, and TeDrive Brazil Ltda. in Arbor.
Special Situations Venture Partners II L.P
and Orlando Management GmbH:
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