South Korea’s Dongah Tire & Rubber Corp. has purchased Avon Automotive’s Vibration Management Systems (VMS) division.
Based in Chippenham, England, VMS produces engine and suspension mounts, mass dampers, tank track pads and other vibration management products to automotive and military defense customers in Europe and North America. Revenues for 2008 totaled about $60 million.
“Avon Automotive is a premier manufacturer of anti-vibration products and has been a technical leader in the marketplace for decades,” says Sang-Hun Kim, Dongah’s president and CEO.
“The acquisition of Avon Automotive’s VMS business expands Dongah Tire & Rubber Corporation’s global footprint of anti-vibration products into the European market, providing us with an existing customer base,” Kim explains. “It also complements our current product offerings.”
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“This sale streamlines our business model, while allowing Avon Automotive to focus entirely on our core global hose business, which continues to experience growth, even in this very tough market,” says Lee Richards, Avon’s president and CEO. “VMS is a well-respected and highly-technical business led by a talented group of employees. It now becomes part of an organization with significant business in both Asia and North America that is committed to global growth.”
Dongah is headquartered in Yusan, South Korea. The company has more than 3,000 employees and annual sales of more than $500 million. Its anti-vibration division employs more than 300 people with factories in South Korea and China. The company has technical centers in Taylor, Mich., and Jinju, South Korea.
Headquartered in Cadillac, Mich., Avon is a global supplier of low-pressure hoses for air-induction, fuel and coolant systems. The company serves a diversified customer base within the automotive, heavy truck, small engine and recreational vehicle markets. It generates annual revenues of about $240 million at 10 plants in eight countries. The company has more than 2,700 employees.
For more information, visit www.dongah-america.com and www.avonauto.com.
