Daido Metal Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of automotive engine bearings, agreed to buy all outstanding shares of a high-pressure and gravity diecasting operation in Thailand from Asahi Tec. Both the buyer and the seller are headquartered in Japan, and the sale price is reported to be more than ¥10 billion ($85 million), and the sale is expected to close during the current fiscal year.
Daido Metal manufactures plain bearings for automobile, marine, construction, and general industrial applications. Asahi Tec Aluminum (Thailand) Co. Ltd., or ATA Casting, manufactures aluminum cylinder head covers to Japanese automakers in Thailand.
On July 1, Asahi Tec spun-off the aluminum HPDC business of its wholly owned subsidiary, Asahi Tec Aluminum (Thailand) Co. Ltd., to form a new wholly owned subsidiary. As its reason for this, it offered its desire to promote business unit independence, and a need to promote collaboration with the Japanese counterpart to the Thai operation, which is known as ATA Casting Technology Co. Ltd. (or ACJ.) That operation had been spun-off in May — and Asahi Tec stated it intended to build an organization to accelerate the global growth strategy” of its aluminum business.
In April of 2015, Asahi Tec sold its iron casting, forging and machining business to an Indian auto parts manufacturer, Amtek Auto. The group continues to have casting capacity in Japan for aluminum auto parts and aluminum wheels.
According to reports, the current sale will allow Daido Metal to expand its portfolio of automotive parts, and to market and distribute the Thai operation’s HPDC output more widely to automakers in Japan, North America, and the E.U.