KEY PLASTICS
Deal with Kendrion on automotive plastics / Further step on the road to global supplier
The veil of secrecy over who is the “mystery buyer” of the automotive plastics business put up for sale by the Dutch Kendrion group (NL-3704 HD Zeist; www.kendrion.com) has been lifted. After announcing in August (see PIE 18, 2004) that the business had been sold, without revealing the buyer, US automotive supplier Key Plastics (Northville, Michigan; www.keyplastics.com) disclosed on 10 September that it had completed the transaction.
The automotive assets, for which the US group paid EUR 30m and assumed debts, include Germany´s Kendrion Backhaus (www.kendrion-backhaus.de), Kendrion RSL (www.kendrion-rsl.com), with plants in Germany, Spain and Portugal, and Kendrion Systems, with sites in Germany and Slovakia. The three firms have combined annual sales of around EUR 240m.
Key Plastics was acquired by the private equity Carlyle Group out of bankruptcy in spring 2001 and restructured. Then under the aegis of Carlyle Management Groupand its “mastermind” B. Edward Ewing it set out on an expansion course. The company that now bills itself as a “leading supplier of plastic products for the automotive and light truck Tier 1 and OEM markets” consequently bought up underperforming smaller suppliers such as Soo Plastics and Regal Plastics.
Through the spring 2003 acquisition of Breed Technologies, a globally active manufacturer of airbags, seat belts and steering wheels with sales of more than USD 1 bn (EUR 0.82 bn), the equity group with its newly founded holding Key Automotive shifted up into a new dimension. In July 2004, the Carlyle management team, renamed Ewing Management Group, bought the entire business in an MBO (see PIE 18, 2004). After the Kendrion takeover, Key Automotive now has sales of more than USD 2 bn, including around USD 800m from Key Plastics.
The automotive assets, for which the US group paid EUR 30m and assumed debts, include Germany´s Kendrion Backhaus (www.kendrion-backhaus.de), Kendrion RSL (www.kendrion-rsl.com), with plants in Germany, Spain and Portugal, and Kendrion Systems, with sites in Germany and Slovakia. The three firms have combined annual sales of around EUR 240m.
Key Plastics was acquired by the private equity Carlyle Group out of bankruptcy in spring 2001 and restructured. Then under the aegis of Carlyle Management Groupand its “mastermind” B. Edward Ewing it set out on an expansion course. The company that now bills itself as a “leading supplier of plastic products for the automotive and light truck Tier 1 and OEM markets” consequently bought up underperforming smaller suppliers such as Soo Plastics and Regal Plastics.
Through the spring 2003 acquisition of Breed Technologies, a globally active manufacturer of airbags, seat belts and steering wheels with sales of more than USD 1 bn (EUR 0.82 bn), the equity group with its newly founded holding Key Automotive shifted up into a new dimension. In July 2004, the Carlyle management team, renamed Ewing Management Group, bought the entire business in an MBO (see PIE 18, 2004). After the Kendrion takeover, Key Automotive now has sales of more than USD 2 bn, including around USD 800m from Key Plastics.
30.09.2004 Plasteurope.com [201073]
Published on 30.09.2004