ArvinMeritor Inc. on Monday, June 29, announced that it has reached agreement to divest another one of its light vehicle chassis businesses, bringing the total number of units divested this year to three. The company says it reached a definitive agreement to sell its Gabriel Ride Control Products North America (“Chassis Ride Control”) business to OpenGate Capital, a private equity firm. Terms were not announced.
ArvinMeritor says that the sale of the U.S. portion of Gabriel Ride Control Products North America has been completed, and that the closing of the transaction for the subsidiary in Mexico will be completed once the license agreements and pending permits have been finalized, which the company expects will occur within two months; during the time that final approvals are in process, the business will continue to serve its customers and operate as usual.
ArvinMeritor says the sale of Gabriel Ride Control Products North America business, along with the divestitures of Meritor Suspension Systems Co. and Gabriel de Venezuela that were announced last week, largely complete the divestiture of chassis systems. The company says it now has divested 87 percent of its chassis operations based on 2008 value-added sales (72 percent of total sales, including $117 million of pass-through sales).
“The sale of another one of our chassis businesses is further evidence that we are able to execute our strategy to refocus the company on the commercial vehicle business even in a difficult environment,” says Chip McClure, chairman, chief executive officer and president of ArvinMeritor, based in Troy, Mich. “Selling the Gabriel Ride Control Products North America business, combined with the divestitures of MSSC and Gabriel de Venezuela, better positions us to achieve our long-term strategic objective to concentrate on the commercial vehicle on- and off-highway market segments for both original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket customers.”
