Walbro Corp. plans to expand its European plastic automotive fuel systems business by buying the fuel tank division of Dyno Industrier AS of Oslo, Norway. The Cass City, Mich., firm announced Jan. 5 that its Walbro Automotive Corp. subsidiary signed a letter of intent to acquire the Dyno division for undisclosed terms. The companies expect to finalize the deal in the first quarter, subject to undisclosed conditions.
The Dyno division had sales of about $150 million last year and supplies plastic fuel tanks to most European vehicle manufacturers. It has operations in France, Spain, Norway, Great Britain, Germany and Belgium.
Walbro Automotive President Gary Vollmar said in a news release that the acquisition ``parallels Walbro's North American strategy, where Walbro already manufactures blow molded plastic fuel tanks.''
Walbro Automotive will continue joint operation of its Marwal Systems SA venture in Europe with Magneti Marelli, Vollmar noted. Marwal makes fuel pumps, modules, tank level sensors and other fuel systems products.
Officials could not be reached at press time to comment on possible integration of Dyno and Marwal Systems operations.
Walbro Automotive said it will retain Dyno Fuel Tank employees for continuity and to transfer Dyno technology to Walbro.
Walbro Automotive of Auburn Hills, Mich., designs and makes auto fuel system components in Michigan, Indiana, Connecticut, Japan and Korea. It has joint ventures in France, Japan, Korea and Brazil.
Walbro Automotive opened a $16 million blow molding plant in Ossian, Ind., in August 1993 for multilayer plastic fuel tanks.
Dyno Industrier makes chemicals, explosives and plastics at operations in 35 countries.