International Auto Components (IAC, Palm Beach, Florida / USA), a newly formed joint venture of US private equity investors WL Ross & Co (New York, New York / USA; www.wlross.com) and Franklin Mutual Advisers (www.franklintempleton.com) with automotive supplier Lear (Southfield, Michigan / USA; www.lear.com), has agreed to buy 14 “core” businesses of Collins & Aikman Europe (C&A, www.collinsaikmaneurope.com) – see PIE 22, 2005. Terms of the deal, set to close at the beginning of next year, have not been announced, but IAC said it will pay cash “well in excess” of USD 100m and will assume “certain liabilities and commitments of C&A.”

The activities to be acquired, in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the UK, have annual sales of USD 600m and some 2,300 employees. Altogether, C&A has 24 European production sites with 4,000 employees and USD 1 bn in sales. The UK production units in Redditch, Walkden and Carlisle are not being acquired and are planned to be closed. The four Italian sites – Anagni, Cassino, Ferentino and San Benigno – also are not part of the deal. However, the insolvency administrators of Kroll Corporate Advisory said a separate sale of these businesses is “progressing well.”