Bosch and MANN+HUMMEL to Acquire Purolator Filter Business from ArvinMeritor
Expanding activities in North America
- Acquisition of the Purolator filter business, with annual sales of 267 million US dollars and two locations in the U.S. employing approximately 1,000 people.
STUTTGART/LUDWIGSBURG, Germany, Feb. 23 -- The Bosch Group and MANN+HUMMEL plan to acquire the Purolator filter business from ArvinMeritor on or about April 1, 2006. The business will be continued as a 50:50 joint venture company from that date. The acquisition covers all Purolator oil, air, fuel and cabin filters. The company has around 1,000 associates. At its site in Fayetteville, North Carolina, it produces filters for both the OE and aftermarket sectors, and at its site in Salt Lake City, Utah, it maintains a small distribution center. Sales are focused on the North American market. In 2005, Purolator recorded sales of 267 million US dollars. The acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant authorities.
Total volume for automotive filters world-wide currently amounts to 4.5 billion euros, with global growth of around 2 percent per annum expected up to 2015. "Expanding our filter business is an integral part of our growth strategy in the Automotive Aftermarket Division," says Peter Tyroller, Bosch Board of Management member. "In acquiring the Purolator filter business, we are significantly improving our market position in the NAFTA region."
"With Purolator, we are closing our strategic gap, as far as filtration facilities in North America are concerned. We have been extending our activities specifically in this region since 1997," said Dr. Dieter Seipler, CEO of MANN+HUMMEL. "For MANN+HUMMEL, Purolator perfectly complements our business in North America in the OE sector and in the independent aftermarket."
About Bosch
The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2005, some 250,000 associates generated sales of 42 billion euros, approximately 52.3 billion USD. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering," the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of some 260 subsidiaries and more than 10,000 service centers in over 130 countries.
The special ownership structure of the Bosch Group guarantees its financial independence and entrepreneurial freedom. It makes it possible for the company to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future, as well as to do justice to its social responsibility in a manner reflective of the spirit and will of its founder. 92% of the shares of Robert Bosch GmbH are held by the charitable foundation Robert Bosch Stiftung. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.
About MANN+HUMMEL
The MANN+HUMMEL Group is an international company. In 2005, the company achieved sales of approx. 1.6 billion US dollars. The MANN+HUMMEL Group currently employs around 9,300 people at 41 locations worldwide. The company develops, produces and sells technically complex automotive components such as air filter systems, intake manifold systems, liquid filter systems and cabin filters for the automotive industry, and filter elements for vehicle servicing and repair. For general engineering, process engineering and industrial manufacturing sectors the company's product range includes industrial filters, filter systems, and materials handling systems and equipment. MANN+HUMMEL's customers come from a large number of sectors, with series production for the automotive industry occupying a key position. Further information about MANN+HUMMEL can be found under http://www.mann-hummel.com/ .