Schefenacker AG, a leading producer of automotive rearview mirrors, is acquiring the assets of bankrupt German auto components supplier Engelmann Automotive GmbH, including its plants in Spain, Mexico, the Czech Republic and Germany.
Schwaikheim, Germany-based Schefenacker plans to integrate the Engelmann operations and said it will retain the majority of the more than 1,000 workers. Some 140 of Engelmann's 440 workers in Germany lost their jobs, and 150 more were offered nine-month contracts.
Engelmann has plants in Wolfsburg and Wedemark, Germany. Subsidiaries include EM Kunststofftechnik GmbH of Neustadt/Orla, Germany, and its Czech offshoot, Elektro-Spoj Kabelowa Konfekce sro. Engelmann also has production in Épila, Spain, and San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
The assets being acquired will form a new Schefenacker subsidiary, Schefenacker-Engelmann Spiegel GmbH. Financial terms were not disclosed.
``With the Engelmann acquisition, we will strengthen our global position in our core mirrors business,'' said Schefenacker Chief Executive Officer Hans-Joachim Lange.
Currently, Schefenacker claims a 26 percent share of the global automotive mirror market; the Engelmann addition will boost that share to 28 percent, the firm said.
Alfred Engelmann Group of Wedemark is an established automotive supplier of mirrors, fuel caps, door handles and painted plastic parts. Its clients include Volkswagen and Opel.
The Mexican unit, which serves VW in the U.S., will be integrated with Schefenacker's U.S. operations, a spokesman said.
Engelmann filed for bankruptcy in September.
Family-owned Schefenacker of Esslingen, Germany, is a leader in rear and interior vehicle lighting and sound-system manufacturing. It employs 7,000 in 23 plants worldwide and recorded 2005 sales of 930 million euros ($1.2 billion).