Confirming earlier suspicions, automotive supplier Plastic Omnium’s (PO, Levallois / France; www.plasticomnium.com) decision to focus on electric mobility (see Plasteurope.com of 06.10.2016) also means the group will divest its smaller utility vehicle business. The latter is set to be acquired by industrial holding Mutares (Munich / Germany; www.mutares.de), which has already made a binding offer for the unit, comprised of five plants in France, two production sites in China as well as one each in Germany and Mexico. The transaction will impact 1,500 employees, who posted sales of EUR 190m in 2015, largely generated by exterior panelling for heavy-goods vehicles. The German company’s offer is currently being evaluated by PO, with the transaction expected to close next year.

Mutares is currently acquiring a number of utility vehicle operations as part of a new portfolio with pro forma sales of EUR 400m and 2,700 employees spread across 15 plants. The company is also in discussions to acquire Mecaplast’s (Monaco; www.mecaplast.com) two French plants in Izernore and Précigné, which together posted sales of EUR 70m. The facilities specialise in the manufacture of interior and exterior cladding for light and heavy-duty lorries. The German group is also planning additional purchases.

Mutares already has a strong automotive portfolio, which includes the Italian subsidiary of Autoneum (Winterthur / Switzerland; www.autoneum.com), specialised in acoustic and thermal management in the engine and interior of utility vehicles, and acquired in 2013 (see Plasteurope.com of 29.07.2013). The company now operates as STS Acoustics (Santhià / Italy; www.sts-acoustics.com), and posted sales of EUR 135m in 2015. Before the end of this year, STS Acoustics plans to commission a new facility in Poland.

Mutares’ European portfolio is quite diverse – ranging from carton manufacture to E&E applications and compactors, wooden flooring and materials handling technology. That being said, its automotive businesses account for about 40% of total sales. In addition to the facilities acquired from Plastic Omnium and Mecaplast, its Elastomer Solutions (Wiesbaum / Germany; www.elastomer-solutions.com) subsidiary also specialises in this particular field. The latter develops, produces and distributes rubber parts for the automotive industry, including protective sleeves for cable harnesses in automotive power circuits.