With the takeover of the German lighting specialist Hella, the French supplier Faurecia is catching up with Continental, ZF and Bosch. The seventh largest automotive supplier in the world is created.
The auto supplier Hella is swallowed up by the competitor Faurecia.
The French are taking over 60 percent of the shares in the MDax group from North Rhine-Westphalia from the previous owner family, the Hueck, for just under four billion euros, the two companies announced on Saturday evening. The family receives 3.4 billion euros of this in cash, the rest in Faurecia shares. The French group is also making all other shareholders of the lighting specialist an offer for their shares in the amount of 60 euros, which is slightly below the price last paid. The Hella share had risen significantly since the end of April after the Hueck family’s sales plans became known.
The French buyer emphasized that Hella should play an important role in the merged company. “Lippstadt will be the global headquarters for three of six business areas,” said the Faurecia announcement. Hella recently employed almost 36,000 people and had sales of around 6.5 billion euros in the 2020/21 fiscal year (May 31). Faurecia had an annual turnover of 14.7 billion euros and 114,000 employees in 2020. The group wants to reduce the annual costs by more than 200 million euros through the acquisition.
The merged manufacturer will reach a critical size and take leading positions in all business areas, said Faurecia. The new company will be the seventh largest automotive supplier globally (top 5 in Europe and top 10 in America and Asia) and will significantly strengthen its profile in terms of business activities and customer access. Size is very important in the supplier business as it strengthens the negotiating position with automakers. The German groups Bosch, Continental and ZF Friedrichshafen are among the largest automotive suppliers in the world.
The sale of the 60 percent package from the widespread founding family was necessary because the joint deal concluded when the company went public in 2014 would soon expire. After that, it would have become more difficult to bundle the interests of the owners. “As family shareholders, we take our entrepreneurial responsibility for Hella seriously by placing the Hella company in new hands at an early stage before our family pool contract expires,” said Jürgen Behrend, head of the family shareholders’ pool. The 72-year-old was also CEO until 2017.
The Hueck family, who have held the majority in the company founded in 1899 since 1923, will still hold nine percent of the Faurecia shares after the transaction. “This participation is subject to a blocking period of 18 months,” it said. A family representative will join Faurecia’s board of directors.
According to the report in “Manager-Magazin” on the family’s sales plans, the Hella share had risen from around 45 euros in April to a record high of just under 69 euros at the beginning of August. At that time, reports of an offer of this amount had made the rounds. According to media reports, the German supplier Mahle is also said to have been among the bidders. In the days that followed, however, there was again some disillusionment, so that the price plummeted back to 63 euros.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
