The joint venture plans to produce lightweight powertrain and structural components, drawing from the expertise of both partners. Start of production is planned for 2017. The overall investment over the next five years will amount to approx. USD 100 million. Closing of the transaction is anticipated for the beginning of September 2015.
GF Automotive is today present in Europe and in China, two global key automotive markets. With this partnership, GF Automotive and Linamar will be in a position to serve and expand with their customers in the top three automotive markets of the world.
“GF and Linamar complement each other very well combining leading expertise in casting respectively in machining”, says Yves Serra, CEO of GF. “Our cooperation allows both partners to offer integrated solutions to their customers and for GF Automotive to expand its activities in the promising North American market.”
Linda Hasenfratz, CEO of Linamar Corp., states: ”Both companies share similar cultures in manufacturing excellence and sustained shareholder value. We look forward to the combination of our technical capabilities in order to serve our global customers even better.”
Linamar Corp. was founded in 1966 by the Hasenfratz family and is listed at the Toronto Stock Exchange. With its 48 worldwide manufacturing facilities and a workforce of 19 500 employees the company generated sales of CHF 3.1 billion (CAD 4.2 billion) in 2014. Its reputation is built upon its expertise in precision machining of metallic powertrain products for the automotive industry. Linamar's products are also found in a wide range of global industries from aerial work platforms to agricultural products.
GF Automotive is one of the leading automotive suppliers worldwide and specializes in lightweight solutions for the automotive industry. It produces more than 600 000 tons of iron, aluminum and magnesium components at nine production plants in Germany, Austria and China. With 4 898 employees, GF Automotive generated sales of about CHF 1.4 billion in 2014.
