Cosma International has an agreement to buy four aluminum diecasting operations in Central Europe from BDW Technologies. The value of the transaction was not announced, but Cosma — an operating unit of automotive supplier Magna International — indicated the new plants would expand its capacity for producing structural aluminum diecastings.
The buyer said the acquisition would close in the first quarter of 2012, following necessary regulatory and anti-trust clearances.
Ontario-based Cosma manufactures automotive vehicle frames, chassis systems, and body-in-white systems. In August, it took over Grenville Castings Ltd. in Perth, Ont., to expand its range of offerings with structural automotive aluminum castings. Grenville is a low-pressure diecasting and permanent-mold foundry that produces thin-wall and hollow-core aluminum components.
"The technologies gained from BDW will complement the low-pressure casting capabilities we recently acquired from Grenville Castings in Ontario, Canada," stated Cosma president Horst Prelog. "While Cosma has always maintained broad product and process metal forming capabilities, the integration of BDW makes Cosma the right choice for OEM's collaborative, lightweight vehicle solutions."
BDW produces automotive powertrain and structural diecastings, suspension parts, and structural products for various passenger and commercial vehicles. Its castings are produced by proprietary high-pressure diecasting processes. The plants also offer heat-treating and several different fabricating and finishing operations. The group also licenses its product technologies to companies in North America and Asia. Its list of customers includes many of Europe’s automakers and automotive suppliers.
The plants that Cosma is buying are in Markt-Schwaben and Soest, Germany, and Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Poland, all of which produce aluminum castings; and Székesfehérvár, Hungary, which fabricates aluminum automotive and structural parts.
Cosma said the acquisition “expands and complements” its ability to produce lightweight structural and chassis components by adding thin-wall aluminum casting capacity.