Clamart, France — Auto industry injection molder Mecaplast Group has sold its heavy-duty truck business to German industrial holding company Mutares AG for an undisclosed sum.
In a Jan. 11 news release, Mecaplast said the sale, completed Dec. 23, allows it to focus on its core business: the automotive industry.
The deal includes two plants, in Izernore and Précigné, France, which employ 340. The plants make interior and exterior parts of trucks.
Mutares said the two factories generate sales of about 70 million euros.
Mecaplast and Mutares added that the two facilities have 600 million euros ($630 million) worth of orders on their books, sufficient to ensure their operation for almost 10 years.
Munich-based Mutares' acquisition of its heavy-duty truck assets potentially creates a major player in the truck industry. Mutares already controls STS Acoustics SpA of Santhià, Italy, and in November signed a deal to buy Cie. Plastic Omnium SA's truck supplier business. Competition authorities expect to approve the Plastic Omnium deal sometime in 2017.
Including the Mecaplast, STS and Plastic Omnium units, Mutares will have sales of 400 million euros ($421 million), 15 plants and 2,700 employees, Mecaplast said.
Plastic Omnium is focusing on body and structural auto components, following its recent acquisition of Faurecia SA's automotive exteriors business.