Polytec buys Peguform, gains access to China
By Bettina Mayer
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE STAFF
HĂ–RSCHING, AUSTRIA (September 9, 2008) -- Austrian door panel and headliner maker Polytec Holding AG announced August 29 that it plans to buy German rival Peguform GmbH from U.S. private equity fund
Cerberus Capital Management.
Terms of the deal were not revealed.
“The acquisition of Peguform is an important step to a global positioning of Polytec group,” said Polytec Chief Executive Officer Friedrich Huemer in an August 29 telephone
interview.
Huemer said the deal has been approved by Volkswagen AG. About 50 percent of Polytec’s sales in the future will come from business with Volkswagen group.
If the deal is approved by antitrust authorities, Polytec will gain access to South America and China via Peguforms’s production site in Brazil and its joint venture in China. Peguform has a 50-50
joint venture with privately owned Chinese interior maker Changshu Automotive Trim Co. (CAIP).
Polytech estimates that after the Peguform acquisition, the company will have annual sales of about 2.2 billion euros (21.9 billion yuan). The merged company’s top customers will be SEAT, BMW and
Volkswagen.
Polytec, which is based in Hörsching, produces door panels, headliners and engine parts for customers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.
Peguform, based in Bötzingen, Germany, makes bumpers, front-end modules, cockpits and door panels.
According to Huemer, officials have not decided whether the companies will use a common name. one of the companies will have to change its name or — if the decide to have a common name —
which one will be chosen.
Cerberus, which took over Peguform in 2005, also has majority control of Chrysler LLC.
Automotive News Europe is a sister publication to Plastics News.