ArvinMeritor completes sale of suspension system to Mitsubishi Steel

Tuesday, 03 Nov 2009

Troy based auto chassis and body systems supplier ArvinMeritor Inc has completed selling its share of a suspension systems venture to Japan based partner Mitsubishi Steel Manufacturing Co Ltd.

ArvinMeritor received about USD 13 million for its 57% share in Detroit based Meritor Suspension Systems Co. That figure includes a USD 12 million cash dividend received during the third quarter.

The joint venture, created in 1986, manufactures automotive coil springs, torsion bars and stabilizer bars.

Mr Chip McClure president and CEO of ArvinMeritor in a statement said that “The sale, initially announced in June, reflects ArvinMeritor's plan to divest from the unstable light vehicle market and focus on commercial vehicles.”

He added that "We will continue to concentrate on divesting the light vehicle chassis business, and we are pleased with the high level of interest we are continuing to see from potential buyers in the remaining segments of that business.”

It is one of three light vehicle businesses ArvinMeritor has sold this year. The company said in June it has reached agreements to sell its 51% stake in Venezuela based Gabriel de Venezuela CA and the US division of Brentwood based Gabriel Ride Control Products Inc. ArvinMeritor has not announced whether those sales have been completed, though the company claimed in June to have divested 87 percent of its light-vehicle chassis systems, based on 2008 value-added sales.