German automotive supplier Leoni (Nuremberg; www.leoni.com) is moving forward with its focus on the wiring systems business with the sale of its domestic subsidiaries Leoni Fiber Optics GmbH (Föritztal; www.leoni-fiber-optics.com), Leoni Fiber Optics Inc, and j-plasma GmbH. The sale of the three units to newly created compatriot company Weinert Industries (Förtiztal; www.weinert-industries.com) is expected to take place in Q1 2022 following the usual closing conditions, the Nuremberg-based company announced. Financial details were not disclosed.

The portfolios of the twin Leoni Fiber Optics companies and j-plasma include special fibres for optical metrology and industrial data transmission. The units are being sold as part of a management buyout with the support of investors, which include Andreas Weinert and Germany’s Thüringer Industriebeteiligungsgesellschaft and Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Thüringen. The company founder, currently director for technology management at Leoni’s fibre optics unit and creator of part of the now divested units in 2001, is to become the new head of a company that will operate under the name Weinert Group. With around 300 employees at six locations in Germany and a plant in the US, the assets to be owned by the group reported sales of around EUR 50m last year. The new company will be one of the leading manufacturers in speciality fibre optics, Weinert said.

After turning its focus to wiring systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles, Leoni has already sold several non-automotive units, including Leoni Schweiz, Leoni Kerpen and parts of its industrial cables business (see Plasteurope.com of 11.10.2021).