Bosch to sell global foundation brakes business to KPS Capital Partners
11 Jan 2012
Robert Bosch GmbH, the world's largest car parts maker, is to sell the remaining part of its global foundation brakes business, Bosch Foundation Brakes, to newly-formed affiliate of US private equity firm KPS Capital Partners, for an undisclosed sum as part of its 2009 plan to restructure the business.
Foundation brakes refers to the wheel-end foundation brakes in vehicles.
The sale comes after the Stuttgart, Germany-based company sold the US part of the foundation brakes unit to Japan's Akebono Brake Industry in 2009.
New York City-based KPS, which focuses on restructuring and turning round underperforming manufacturing and industrial companies is buying the original equipment business with products such as brake calipers, disk brakes, drum brakes, and parking brakes, which had sales of €850 million in 2010 and employs around 5,200 people.
Based in Drancy, France, Bosch's foundation brakes business comprises 20 locations in Europe, Asia Pacific, and South America, of which 15 are manufacturing sites.
Bosch had announced its intention to restructure its brake operations in 2009 and said that it would retain its power brakes and braking control systems units and also retain and expand its aftermarket business, including the production of brake disks and brake pads.
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