ZF Friedrichshafen has successfully completed the sale of RH Sheppard to Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems for US$149.5m. The divestment followed ZF's acquisition of WABCO on 29 May, 2020.

Sheppard is a supplier of steering technologies for commercial vehicles. Bendix is an indirect subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse, a global supplier of braking systems and other rail and commercial vehicle systems.

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The planned sale and divestment was previously announced on 30 January, 2020, in connection with the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice's review of the merger between WABCO and ZF and the settlement order approved by the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Knorr-Bremse said the acquisition was a major step towards becoming a leading global manufacturer of steering systems for commercial vehicles.

Full integration of Sheppard into Bendix and the global steering business unit of Knorr-Bremse was expected to take 18 to 24 months.

"The acquisition of Sheppard is another important step for Knorr-Bremse in our strategic drive to become a leading global supplier of commercial vehicle steering systems. With Sheppard as a leading commercial vehicle steering supplier in the North American market now joining Knorr-Bremse, this opens further opportunities for us as a market leader in braking and driver assistance systems," said Peter Laier, Knorr-Bremse's Commercial Vehicle Systems division chief.

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"New advanced driver assistance functions and automated driving solutions require complete control of commercial vehicle dynamics and the related actuators for braking and steering. The combination of Sheppard's expertise in the field of recirculating ball (RCB) steering systems and Knorr-Bremse's global brake control expertise and systems know-how forms the ideal basis for the introduction of torque overlay steering (TOS) systems and a broad range of DAS/HAD functions, particularly in the North American market.

"Our recent acquisitions in the commercial vehicle steering business, including Hitachi CVS Steering in Japan in 2019, the steering related expansion of our joint venture with Dongfeng in China in 2020, and now the acquisition of Sheppard put us among the three leading companies in the global commercial vehicle steering market. We are delighted to welcome Sheppard to the Knorr-Bremse family."

RH Sheppard will form an operating unit of Bendix and retain use of the Sheppard brand name.