Supplier Zhuzhou Times to buy ZF's rubber and plastics business

ERJ staff report (ANC)

Shanghai – Zhuzhou Times New Materials Technology Co., a state-controlled supplier, expects to acquire the global rubber and plastics business unit of German parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG, reports Automotive News China, a sister publication to ERJ.

Zhuzhou Times has proposed to make the acquisition with cash but it has yet to sign definitive documents with ZF on the deal, said Zhuzhou Times' parent, Shanghai-listed CSR Corp.

Additional information about the deal is not available.

ZF's rubber and plastics unit has about 3,400 employees worldwide and generated sales last year of €718m euros (6.0 billion yuan), up 6 percent from 2011.

In addition to 1,700 employees at three plants and an R&D facility in Germany, the unit has operations in Hebron, Kentucky; Sorocaba, Brazil; Shanghai; Trnava, Slovakia; and Melbourne, Australia.

Zhuzhou Times, located in the central China city of Zhuzhou, makes elastomeric NVH components, polymer composite materials, insulation materials and special coatings.

It is majority-owned by CSR, a major state-owned company that makes railway locomotives, passenger trains, freight wagons and subway vehicles.

Although ZF is selling its rubber and plastics business, the company still regards China as a growth market. Last year, ZF generated sales of €2.1 billion (17.4 billion yuan) in China, up 22 percent from the previous year.

The company has more than 5,000 employees in China, which now accounts for 12 percent of ZF's global sales.