Dana Corp. and two affiliates have agreed to sell Dana’s trailer axle manufacturing business to Hendrickson for about $38 million. Hendrickson – a leading suspension manufacturer that has been growing its trailer axle business in recent years – would acquire trailer axle manufacturing assets in South Carolina, Canada and China and would assume Dana’s liabilities related to the business.
The transactions are subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which has jurisdiction over Dana’s Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings. Dana has filed a motion with the court seeking approval of procedures that will provide an opportunity for competitive bids on the trailer axle assets before the sale is approved. Dana expects the bidding process to be completed and the sale to close by year’s end.
“This divestiture will benefit our Commercial Vehicle group by concentrating its resources on our core products and competencies – namely drive and steer axles, driveshafts, brakes and tire inflation systems for commercial vehicles,” said Nick Stanage, president of Dana Heavy Vehicle Products. The trailer axle line “is a good business that has the opportunity to become even better by teaming with a company that considers trailer products a core pursuit and has the resources to further develop this group’s capabilities to address this market segment,” Stanage added.
In conjunction with the asset purchase agreements, Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC, a joint venture in which Dana has an interest, has agreed to continue to supply Bendix brake systems to Hendrickson.
