Canada's autoparts maker Linamar to buy French rival Montupet for C$1.16 bn

One of Canada's largest autoparts maker Linamar Corp yesterday struck a deal to buy Montupet in a deal that values its French rival at around y €771 million (C$1.16 billion).

Under the terms of the deal, Linamar has offered to pay €71.53 per share in cash, representing a premium of 15.5 per cent to the closing price of Montupet on 14 October.

Montupet's senior managers and anchor shareholders, who collectively own approximately 36.6 per cent stake, have agreed to tender their shares to the offer.

Based on the outskirts of Paris, Montupet specialises in the design and production of complex cast aluminium parts for the automotive industry.

The Paris-Euronext stock exchange-listed company manufactures cylinder heads and other engine parts like hub carriers and steering knuckles, pump and turbo-charger housings, break master cylinders and calipers.

Its clients include carmakers like BMW, General, Renault, Audi, Geneeral Motors, Volvo, Citroen, Nissan, Daewoo and Ford.

The company has a market cap of €670 million, and operates seven plants located in France, UK, Spain, Mexico and Bulgaria. It employs more than 3,200 people.

With a market cap of about $3.7 billion, Linamar manufactures engineered products powering vehicles and motion, and operates in two segments – Powertrain / Driveline and the Industrial segment, which are further divided into four operating groups – machining and assembly, light metal casting, forging, and skyjack.

With more than 19,500 employees in 48 manufacturing locations, five R&D centers and 15 sales offices in 14 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia, the Ontario-based company generated sales of $4.2 billion in 2014.

''Montupet is a technical leader in the market, well-known and respected for its engineering and processing expertise in the cylinder head segment in particular where we intend to grow and leverage our respective strengths.'' said Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz.

''Montupet and Linamar complement each other very well combining leading expertise in casting and machining,'' said Stéphane Magnan, chairman & CEO of Montupet.