Faurecia to buy Hitachi's Clarion for EUR1.1bn
French automotive parts manufacturer Faurecia has agreed to buy Hitachi's car navigation business, Clarion, for €1.1bn.
Faurecia
€21.27
16:30 06/05/24
Faurecia will buy Hitachi's 63% controlling stake in Clarion for 2,500 yen per share, which is a premium of 10.5% to the closing price on Thursday.
As part of the deal, Faurecia and Hitachi Automotive Systems have also agreed for a business alliance within which Clarion and Hitachi Automotive Systems would be able to combine their product offers to propose unique autonomous driving solutions to original equipment manufacturers.
Faurecia's chief executive, Patrick Koller, said: "This project is very exciting for Faurecia as it would position us as a leading player for cockpit systems integration, able to offer unique user experiences. In addition, our business alliance with Hitachi Automotive Systems would enable innovative solutions for full autonomous driving to OEMs.
"The combined product and technology offer of Faurecia and Clarion and our complementary geographic presence and customer portfolios would create significant value for all stakeholders."
Faurecia sad it plans to create a new business group headquartered in Japan, named Faurecia Clarion Electronics Systems, regrouping all of its competences in this domain. The business would employ almost 9,200 people, more than 1,650 software engineers and have more than €2bn of revenues by 2022.
Following the deal, the French company expects sales to reach more than €21bn in 2010, with earnings per share accretion.
At 1030 BST, Faurecia shares were down 7.5% to €38.83.