Mahle maintains there will be no redundancies as a result of its US$727m purchase of Delphi’s thermal business, with the US producer saying the proceeds will be used to fund unnamed acquisitions.
Delphi’s thermal operation employs around 7,600 staff with annual sales of US$2.1bn, while Mahle is believed to have a similar number of employees in its operation.
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Mahle will also buy Delphi Thermal’s joint venture in China.
“There are no job losses…we don’t see any redundancies foreseeable,” a Mahle spokeswoman told just-auto from Stuttgart. “We are already producing similar materials in air conditioning modules and are merging the Delphi thermal management division.”
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, but given the multiple anti-trust authorities involved, this timetable could slip.
“We have to apply with anti-trust authorities in all regions of the world and Asia usually takes particularly long, we have to wait and see, it is not just one anti-trust authority,” the Mahle spokeswoman added.
The German company says its goal is to integrate the 13 Delphi plants in Europe (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary), North and South America (US, Mexico, Brazil), and Asia (China, India), as well as the development centres in the US and Luxembourg, into its global group organisation.
Mahle says thermal management systems will play an increasingly significant role for all potential drive systems of the future, such as combustion engines, electric drives (batteries and power electronics) and fuel cells.
In 2013, Mahle increased its holding in the Behr Group from 36.85% to around 51% with the acquisition of all shares in the BWK holding company (BWK).
