In a bold move that took many observers by surprise, Austria’s Polytec Group (Hörsching / Austria; www.polytec-group.com) has nailed down its larger German rival, automotive supplier Peguform (Bötzingen; www.peguform.de). Seller is private equity group Cerberus Capital Management (www.cerberus.com), which took over the formerly insolvent Peguform in 2004 (see Plasteurope.com of 02.09.2004). The undisclosed acquisition price will be financed through a mix of cash and credit, Polytec said in an ad-hoc statement.

Rumours circulating for more than a year had seen the Austrians moving on another European auto supplier. Much of the speculation was focused on the smaller Grammer (Ammer / Germany; www.grammer.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 05.06.2007 – although Peguform had also been mentioned. In 2007, Polytec acquired former German auto suppliers Menzolit-Fibron and ISE Intex (see Plasteurope.com of 17.01.2008).

With EUR 1.4 bn sales in 2007, Peguform is nearly twice the size of its new owner, which employs 6,500 people at 29 sites in Europe, North America and South Africa and has forecast sales of EUR 800m for 2008. Following completion of the takeover targeted for the end of the third quarter, Polytec will move up into 60th place among worldwide automotive suppliers.

Bumper and front-end module specialist Peguform is regarded as one of the leading European manufacturers of automotive systems and modules with 7,000 employees in 18 countries – in addition to Europe it also produces in Brazil and Mexico. The German company operates three joint ventures in Spain, Portugal and China.