Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced it has completed the sale of its automotive parts manufacturing subsidiary Magneti Marelli to a private-equity holding for $6.5 billion, less than the value set last year when the sale was announce. The buyer is
Fiat Chrysler last year agreed to sell Magneti Marelli for $6.9 billion to CK Holdings -- a KKR portfolio company and the parent of Japan-based auto-parts supplier Calsonic Kansei. KKR is a global investment fund with multiple asset classes. Calsonic Kansei Corp. was acquired by KKR from Nissan Motor Co. in 2017 for about $4.5 billion.
Magneti Marelli has 86 manufacturing plants and 14 research centers worldwide, with a total of 43,000 employees. Its product lines range among automotive lighting, powertrain, electronic, suspension, and exhaust systems, as well as plastic components and aftermarket parts. The brand names in its portfolio include AL-Automotive Lighting, Cromodora, Cofap, Ergom Automotive, Jaeger, Mako Elektrik, Vitaloni, Weber, and several others.
By combining Magneti with Calsonic the buyer reportedly will establish the world's seventh-largest independent car parts supplier, to be known as Magneti Marelli CK Holdings Co. Ltd.
“In the last few months, our two companies have spent a lot of time getting to know each other and our respective businesses, and I’m very confident and excited about our future potential as one firm,” according to Beda Bolzenius, CEO of the new firm. “As part of this, our relationship with FCA remains an important one, as we continue to serve them as part of our multi-year supply agreement. In being able to serve our customers as one firm, integration is a key priority – both culturally and operationally. We will coordinate our efforts to focus on creating a globally-diversified tier-one supplier, which our customers and employees can be proud to be part of.”
