Canadian auto parts giant Magna sells interiors arm to Antolin for $525 million

AURORA, Ont. – Magna International (TSX:MG) has agreed to sell its interiors operations for about $525 million to Spanish auto parts manufacturer Grupo Antolin.

The transaction, involving instrument panels, door panels, overhead systems and components, includes 36 manufacturing operations and approximately 12,000 employees located in Europe, North America and Asia.

That deal represents about a tenth of Magna’s total global workforce and about US$2.4 billion in annual sales.

The acquisition will nearly double the Antolin workforce and revenue compared with last year, after the agreement gets the necessary approvals.

“We are very proud with this operation because we have found a very complementary business that fits perfectly well with ours,” said Antolin executive chairman Ernesto Antolin.

Magna says the deal is part of its strategy to refine its product lineup to focus on key areas of automotive vehicles.

“We are confident that Grupo Antolin will continue to serve our interiors customers and provide to our interiors employees a solid foundation for the future,” Magna chief executive Don Walker in a statement Thursday.

Based in Aurora, Ont., Magna is Canada’s largest auto parts companies and one of the largest in the world.

It currently has 313 manufacturing operations and 84 product development, engineering and sales centres in 28 countries.

In total it employs 131,000 people and generated US$36.6 billion in sales last year.

Antolin has about 14,800 employees and a presence in 25 countries. It announced Thursday that 2014 annual revenue of 2.225 billion euros, or about US$2.38 billion.