DETROIT, Oct. 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- American Axle &
Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (AAM), (NYSE: AXL) announced today
that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its
commercial vehicle axle business and related assets in India (AAM India Manufacturing Corporation
Pvt., Ltd. or AAMIMCPL), to Bharat Forge Limited (BFL), for a
purchase price of $65 million,
subject to certain customary adjustments at closing. The business
being sold generated approximately $156
million of sales in the last twelve months ending
June 30, 2024.
BFL is the Pune-based flagship
company of Kalyani Group, a global provider of high-performance and
safety critical components and solutions to multiple sectors
including automotive, rail transportation, defense, construction
& mining, aerospace, marine and energy. The company has
manufacturing facilities in India,
Europe, and North America.
The scope of the transaction includes AAM's manufacturing
facilities in Pune and
Chennai, which are focused on
light, medium and heavy commercial vehicle axles. It also includes
AAM's Pune Engineering and Development Center. Excluded from the
transaction are the AAM components manufacturing facility in Chakan
and the Pune Business Office, which provides Engineering, IT and
Procurement shared services for AAM's operations around the
world.
"The strategic decision to sell our commercial vehicle axle
business in India enables us to
strengthen our focus on ICE, hybrid and full electric passenger
car, pickup truck / SUV, and van applications globally and provides
additional financial flexibility," said David C. Dauch, AAM Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer. "We are committed to collaborating with Bharat Forge to
execute this agreement efficiently and support the continuity of
supply from these facilities to customers during the ownership
transition."
Mr. Amit Kalyani, Vice Chairman
& Jt. Managing Director, Bharat Forge Limited added, "We are
delighted to welcome the AAMIMCPL team to the Bharat Forge family.
We look forward to relying on their technical expertise and
excellent relationship with key industry players to further
scale-up the business over the medium to long term. AAMIMCPL's
acquisition, when completed, will be a significant milestone in our
transformational journey of adding product solutions to our
repertoire on the component side. This transaction will enable BFL
to get into a new business for manufacturing of products."
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of
2024 subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt
of regulatory approvals.
Lincoln International was the exclusive sell side financial
advisor to AAM on this transaction.
About AAM
As a leading global Tier 1 Automotive and
Mobility Supplier, AAM (NYSE: AXL) designs, engineers and
manufactures Driveline and Metal Forming technologies to support
electric, hybrid and internal combustion vehicles. Headquartered in
Detroit with over 80 facilities in
18 countries, AAM is Bringing the Future
Faster for a safer and more sustainable tomorrow. To learn
more, visit www.aam.com
About Bharat Forge
Bharat Forge Limited (BFL), the
Pune based Indian multinational,
is a technology driven global leader in providing high performance,
innovative safety critical components and solutions for several
sectors including automotive, power, oil and gas, construction
& mining, rail, marine, defense and aerospace. BFL has presence
across 18 manufacturing locations in five countries with the
largest repository of metallurgical knowledge and offers full
service supply capability to its geographically dispersed marquee
customers from concept to product design, engineering,
manufacturing, testing and validation. To learn more, visit
www.bharatforge.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
In this press release,
we make statements concerning our expectations, beliefs, plans,
objectives, goals, strategies, and future events or performance.
Such statements are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and relate
to trends and events that may affect our future financial position
and operating results. The terms such as "will," "may," "could,"
"would," "plan," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend,"
"project," "target," and similar words or expressions, as well as
statements in future tense, are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not
be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will
not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by,
which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking
statements are based on information available at the time those
statements are made and/or management's good faith belief as of
that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks
and may differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by
the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause
such differences include, but are not limited to: global economic
conditions, including the impact of inflation, recession or
recessionary concerns, or slower growth in the markets in which we
operate; reduced purchases of our products by General Motors
Company (GM), Stellantis N.V. (Stellantis), Ford Motor Company
(Ford) or other customers; our ability to respond to changes in
technology, increased competition or pricing pressures; our ability
to develop and produce new products that reflect market demand;
lower-than-anticipated market acceptance of new or existing
products; our ability to attract new customers and programs for new
products; reduced demand for our customers' products (particularly
light trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) produced by GM,
Stellantis and Ford); risks inherent in our global operations
(including tariffs and the potential consequences thereof to us,
our suppliers, and our customers and their suppliers, adverse
changes in trade agreements, such as the
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), compliance
with customs and trade regulations, immigration policies, political
stability or geopolitical conflicts, taxes and other law changes,
potential disruptions of production and supply, and currency rate
fluctuations); supply shortages and the availability of natural gas
or other fuel and utility sources in certain regions, labor
shortages, including increased labor costs, or price increases in
raw material and/or freight, utilities or other operating supplies
for us or our customers as a result of pandemic or epidemic illness
such as COVID-19, geopolitical conflicts, natural disasters or
otherwise; a significant disruption in operations at one or more of
our key manufacturing facilities; risks inherent in transitioning
our business from internal combustion engine vehicle products to
hybrid and electric vehicle products; our ability to realize the
expected revenues from our new and incremental business backlog;
negative or unexpected tax consequences, including those resulting
from tax litigation; risks related to a failure of our information
technology systems and networks, including cloud-based
applications, and risks associated with current and emerging
technology threats and damage from computer viruses, unauthorized
access, cyber attacks and other similar disruptions; our
suppliers', our customers' and their suppliers' ability to maintain
satisfactory labor relations and avoid or minimize work stoppages;
cost or availability of financing for working capital, capital
expenditures, research and development (R&D) or other general
corporate purposes including acquisitions, as well as our ability
to comply with financial covenants; our customers' and suppliers'
availability of financing for working capital, capital
expenditures, R&D or other general corporate purposes; an
impairment of our goodwill, other intangible assets, or long-lived
assets if our business or market conditions indicate that the
carrying values of those assets exceed their fair values;
liabilities arising from warranty claims, product recall or field
actions, product liability and legal proceedings to which we are or
may become a party, or the impact of product recall or field
actions on our customers; our ability or our customers' and
suppliers' ability to successfully launch new product programs on a
timely basis; risks of environmental issues, including impacts of
climate-related events, that could result in unforeseen issues or
costs at our facilities, or risks of noncompliance with
environmental laws and regulations, including reputational damage;
our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations and avoid work
stoppages; our ability to consummate and successfully integrate
acquisitions and joint ventures; our ability to achieve the level
of cost reductions required to sustain global cost competitiveness
or our ability to recover certain cost increases from our
customers; price volatility in, or reduced availability of, fuel;
our ability to protect our intellectual property and
successfully defend against assertions made against us; adverse
changes in laws, government regulations or market conditions
affecting our products or our customers' products; our ability or
our customers' and suppliers' ability to comply with regulatory
requirements and the potential costs of such compliance; changes in
liabilities arising from pension and other postretirement benefit
obligations; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel
in key positions and functions; and other unanticipated events and
conditions that may hinder our ability to compete. It is not
possible to foresee or identify all such factors and we make no
commitment to update any forward-looking statement or to disclose
any facts, events or circumstances after the date hereof that may
affect the accuracy of any forward-looking statement.
For more information:
AAM Media Contact:
Christopher
M. Son
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
(313) 758-4814
chris.son@aam.com
AAM Investor Contact:
David H.
Lim
Head of Investor Relations
(313) 758-2006
david.lim@aam.com
BFL Media Contacts:
Bhakti Sharma
+91 70309 42840
bhakti.Sharma@bharatforge.com
Arun Thankappan
+91 99308 60706
arun.thankappan@adfactorspr.com
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aam-announces-sale-of-commercial-vehicle-axle-business-in-india-302278745.html
SOURCE American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc.