Having been given the green light by all the relevant competition authorities, the sale of automotive components supplier Magneti Marelli (MM, Corbetta / Italy; www.magnetimarelli.com) to Japanese competitor and former Nissan supplier subsidiary Calsonic Kansei (CK, Saitama; www.calsonickansei.co.jp – see Plasteurope.com of 07.11.2018) has been completed. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will receive EUR 5.8 bn, of which around EUR 2 bn will be distributed as a special dividend.

Magneti Marelli now belongs to Magneti Marelli CK Holdings (MMCK, www.mmck-holdings.com), a company in the portfolio of US investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR, New York, New York; www.kkr.com). The combined company had pro forma sales in 2018 of EUR 14.6 bn – EUR 7.1 bn from CK and EUR 7.5 bn from MM. In terms of total sales, the combined auto parts supplier ranks seventh in the world with a total of 170 facilities and R&D centres. Beda Bolzenius, the current CEO of Calsonic Kansei, will lead MMCK, while MM chief executive Ermanno Ferrari will join the management board. According to Bolzenius and Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley, FCA and MMCK will remain tied to one another with long-term supply contracts.

As suspected, the plastics processing plants belonging to sub-group Plastic Components and Modules Automotive (PCMA, Grugliasco / Italy) are not included in the transaction. These include seven auto component plants in Italy, for example for bumpers, centre consoles and plastic fuel tank systems, as well as others in Brazil, Poland and Turkey. These are “part of core activity,” an FCA spokesperson told Plasteurope.com, and a sale was therefore not planned.