Cosma International, an operating unit of Magna International Inc., announced that it has signed an agreement with the shareholders of the BDW technologies group, pursuant to which Cosma will acquire BDW's four operations. BDW is an industry leader in vacuum high-pressure aluminum die casting and expects full-year 2011 total sales of approximately €160 million.
On completion of the transaction, Cosma will acquire two operations in Germany, one in Poland and one in Hungary. BDW's current production customers include Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, ZF and others.
This acquisition expands and complements Cosma's ability to deliver lightweight solutions for complex body-in-white structural and chassis components in steel, aluminum or aluminum-steel hybrid to customers around the world. The combination of Cosma's proven record for body structure and chassis engineering with thin-wall aluminum casting capabilities further enhances its position in the industry.
"The technologies gained from BDW will complement the low-pressure casting capabilities we recently acquired from Grenville Castings in Ontario, Canada," said Horst Prelog, President of Cosma International. "While Cosma has always maintained broad product and process metal forming capabilities, the integration of BDW makes Cosma the right choice for OEM's collaborative, lightweight vehicle solutions."
Closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2012, subject to obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals including anti-trust approvals.
