STRATTEC SECURITY CORPORATION Announces Brazilian Joint Venture
31 November 2000
STRATTEC SECURITY CORPORATION Announces Brazilian Joint VentureMILWAUKEE, Nov. 30 STRATTEC SECURITY CORPORATION announced today that WITTE-STRATTEC LLC, its Delaware joint venture with E. WITTE Verwaltungsgesellschaft MBH, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a joint venture in Brazil with Ifer Estamparia e Ferramentaria Ltda. This Brazilian joint venture will manufacture and sell automotive components to the South and Central American automotive industries. Ifer Estamparia e Ferramentaria Ltda currently provides stamped metal and plastic injected components and assemblies to a variety of OEM companies throughout the Americas. Ifer is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil and operates four manufacturing plants in the Sao Paulo area. Ifer also operates a fifth plant in Manaus, (Amazonia) Brazil. Ifer has sales in excess of $40 million. WITTE and STRATTEC formed WITTE-STRATTEC LLC in 1999 for the purpose of joint product development and globalization for the two parent companies. The Memorandum of Understanding with Ifer marks the first step in WITTE-STRATTEC's efforts to address the South and Central American markets. The focus of the new joint venture will be to support the future programs of WITTE's and STRATTEC's customers, such as Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford and others, Initial business for the new company has already been secured for the 2002 model year.