Adient Ltd., which makes automotive seating, has agreed to buy fellow seat maker Futuris Group in a move that will provide it with a stronger sales base with new "West Coast" automakers, including Tesla.
Adient, with operating headquarters in Plymouth, Mich., announced the deal for $360 million on Aug. 21. The purchase would be complete by the end of September.
Futuris, owned by Clear Lake Capital and based in Oak Park, Mich., designs and makes fully integrated automotive seating and interior systems, including seat frames, trim, headrests, armrests and seat bolsters.
It operates 15 facilities in North America and Asia. The firm was the first automotive seating company to focus on West Coast automakers — which are expected to be a leading factor in the growth of electric, autonomous and shared vehicles — and has a growing backlog of business with several of these customers. It supplies Tesla, Ford and General Motors in North America. It's Asia business portfolio includes customers such as Geely, Chery and Brilliance.
Adient expects the transaction to add at least $500 million in sales annually starting in 2018.
Adient says the acquisition is expected to provide substantial synergies through vertical integration, purchasing and logistics improvements and by applying best business practices and process optimisation to improve operational efficiencies.
