Press Release
Brose acquires electric motor operations
from Continental AG
Coburg/Hanover, December 20, 2007. The Brose Group is to acquire Continental AG’s
electric motor operations, the sale being agreed by the two companies on December 20,
2007. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities. "We decided to
sell the former Siemens VDO Electric Motor Drives operations and Continental's cooling fan
business to the Brose Group because Brose's excellent positioning in the market segment
creates exceedingly good prospects for that business," said Continental's Executive Board
Chairman, Manfred Wennemer.
"Considerations along these lines had already been discussed at Siemens VDO Automotive
AG, so we resumed those considerations and brought them to a close. At the same time, we
have jointly arrived at a solution that caters for the interests of customers as well as for those
of the employees. Moreover, we're keeping to our promise of making decisions as quickly as
possible during the phase of integrating the former Siemens VDO units so as to eliminate
any uncertainties”, added Wennemer.
The transaction comprises the business with electric motors for window regulators, anti-lock
braking systems (ABS/ESC), heating/ventilation, engine cooling and electric power steering.
The activities of the Electric Motor Drives business unit in Würzburg and Berlin, as well as
the development office in Nuremberg and the location in Oldenburg will be transferred to the
buyer. Hybrid activities, which are also located in Berlin, shall not be affected by this transaction. In addition, there are six plants in La Suze/France, Gainesville/U.S.A., Reynosa/Mexico,
as well as in Shanghai, Zhangjiagang and Chanchun (all in China). Only individual production lines are being sold at the sites in Trutnov/Czech Republic, Budapest/Hungary and
Salto/Brazil. All in all, Continental has approximately 4,200 employees working for its electric
motor operations, with sales this year totaling €740 million.
…/2
-2Following the purchasing of the door latch business from Bosch in 2003, Brose now intends
to further increase its competitive edge in mechatronic systems for the vehicle body with the
acquisition of the electric motor operations from Continental. "In-house production of a defined scope of core components is as much a part of our strategy as the gradual enlargement
of our range by adding products with a promising future. Both these aspects can be ideally
fulfilled with the acquired motors business," said Jürgen Otto, CEO of the Brose Group.
Brose is the leading manufacturer of window regulators, door systems and seat adjusters,
and - with over 70 million units per annum - is the world's biggest buyer of electric motors.
The acquisition will give Brose access to new areas of activities. As legal successor, Brose
takes over the existing agreements concluded with the employee representatives, and as a
socially-responsible family company with nearly 100 years of tradition, it has good prerequisites for maintaining and expanding jobs in view of its own high requirements.
With annual sales of more than €25 billion (based on 2006 figures), the Continental Corporation is one
of the top five automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for the powertrain and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires
and technical elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving safety and protection of
the global climate. Today, the corporation employs approximately 150,000 people at more than 200
locations in 36 countries.
The Brose Group is the leading manufacturer of mechatronic components and systems for vehicle
bodies and interiors. Products include window regulators, door systems, seat adjusters, closure systems
as well as drives to open and close liftgates. In 2007, Brose achieved sales of €2.5 billion. The group
currently has about 9,800 employees at almost 40 locations in 19 countries.
Contacts at Continental:
Katja Mattl
Head of Communications
Continental
Powertrain Division
Sieboldstrasse 19
90411 Nuremberg, Germany
Phone: +49 911 9526-2591
Fax: +49 911 9526-2537
E-mail: katja.mattl@contiautomotive.com
Hannes Boekhoff
Head of Press
Continental AG
Vahrenwalder Strasse 9
30165 Hanover, Germany
Phone: +49 511 938-1278
Fax: +49 511 938-1055
E-mail: prkonzern@conti.de
Corporate Media Database: www.mediacenter.continental-corporation.com
-3Contacts at Brose:
Gabi Rujoub
Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft, Coburg
Central Corporate Communications
Ketschendorfer Strasse 38-50
96450 Coburg, Germany
Phone: +49 9561 21-1188
Fax: +49 9561 21-1704
E-mail: presse@brose.com
Brose image database: http://www.brose.com/de/pub/presse/index.htm