Plastics moulder Carclo (Ossett / UK; www.carclo.co.uk) has sold part of its troubled Wipac operation, which belongs to its LED division. The firm announced the sale of Wipac Czech, based in Ostrava / Czech Republic, to Magna International (Aurora, Ontario / Canada; www.magna.com) for EUR 1.1m. The now divested operation made EUR 100,000 in operating profits in the year to 31 March 2019 and has around 40 staff. Its automotive customers include Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Porsche and Rolls-Royce. The deal is expected to complete by 26 November 2019.

Carclo has been looking to sell off its Wipac business after it ran into problems and was forced to agree a GBP 7.1m (EUR 8.29m) price concession to customers. The UK firm plunged into the red in 2018 after it what it called Wipac’s “poor operational and financial performance” put pressure on the whole group. Carclo is still trying to sell the UK Wipac operation – see Plasteurope.com of 18.11.2019.

Magna’s president of mechatronics, mirrors and lighting, John O’Hara, said about the acquisition, “Lighting represents a strategic growth area for us, due to increasing levels of electronic and sensor integration and the ongoing industry trend to differentiate vehicles through styling. We see Wipac Czech playing an important role in growing our global lighting business, particularly with forward lighting to European automakers.”