Specialist Supplier Metaldyne Goes for Chapter 11
May 28, 2009
By Bill Visnic
In a signal the widening distress in the U.S. auto industry's supplier sector is certain to spill outside the nation's borders, Metaldyne Corp., a Plymouth, Michigan-based developer and supplier of specialty metal components mainly for powertrain and chassis applications, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The company is owned by Japan's Asahi Tec Corp., a former competitor.
Metaldyne, which through Chapter 11 bankruptcy reportedly is seeking to sell all or most of its assets, had for some time been downsizing its operations and staff, selling various businesses and consolidating facilities.
The Metaldyne bankruptcy also is another new setback -- as with Chrysler's bankruptcy -- for private-equity investment in the auto sector. The private-equity firm RHJ International is the majority owner of Asahi Tec and now has been named as one of the entities likely to acquire portions of Metaldyne's business. RHJ most recently was a bidder for General Motors' Opel, a bid that apparently is no longer in the running.
The company also was involved in a case of intellectual-property theft when, in 2006, three of its employees were charged with conspiring to transfer to a Chinese supplier a Metaldyne-developed process for fabricating parts from powdered metal. Earlier this year, two of the three were convicted of conspiracy.
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