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.

Bosch's foundation brakes business is one of the three largest in its market, and competes mainly with Germany's Continental AG and TRW of the US.

Martina Merz, CEO of Bosch Foundation Brakes, said, ''Our objective is to build a leading supplier of foundation brakes and I believe that the Company's strong balance sheet and access to KPS's financial resources will enable it to achieve that objective.''

Last year, KPS had opened an office in Frankfurt and the Bosch deal is the first that it has struck in Germany since it bought Waterford Wedgwood, the Irish crystal and ceramics maker in 2009.

KPS, which has $2.7 billion in assets, has also invested in US bus-maker Motor Coach Industries Inc.

Set up in 1886 by Robert Bosch, the Bosch Group is a leading global supplier in the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology.

The group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its more than 350 subsidiaries and regional companies in over 60 countries. Bosch says that it has spent €3.8 billion on research and development in 2010, and applied for over 3,800 patents worldwide.

The group generated sales of €47.3 billion in fiscal 2010 and the company forecasts sales of more than €50 billion for 2011.

Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation holds 92 per cent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH, while the majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust.

The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust and the remaining shares are held by the Bosch family and by Robert Bosch GmbH.