Adient to Take Over Seating Supplier Futuris Group in USD 360 Million Deal

Adient is a leading seating solution company which specializes in the design, manufacture and sales of a wide range of seating systems and components for all kinds of vehicles. These include passenger cars, pickups, light trucks and SUVs. The company has announced that it will be acquiring US seating supplier, Futuris Group as the outcome of a USD 360 million.

The Futuris Group designs and manufactures fully integrated automotive seating and interior systems and currently has 15 manufacturing facilities spread across North America and Asia. The company has a diverse product range including seat bolsters, armrests, full seating systems, seat trim, seat frames and headrests.

The company’s main customers in the North American market include General Motors, Ford and Tesla while the major customers in the Asian market include Chery, Brilliance and Geely.

Adient will take on the liabilities of Futuris including approximate net debt of $18 million. Adient expects to increase its revenue by USD 500 million as an outcome of the deal.

Commenting on the acquisition, Bruce McDonald, chairman and CEO, Adient said that Futuris has a rapidly growing client base that will strengthen Adient’s position in the US market, improve its utilization rates in North America and expand its business in Southeast Asia. He said that Futuris’ concentration on local brands in China will complement Adient’s existing business in the region.

Adient expects substantial synergies from the acquisition of Futuris through vertical integration, improvements in purchasing and logistics and through application of best business practices and process optimization of the Adient Manufacturing System for optimization of operational efficiencies. The deal between the two companies is expected to be finalized by September 30, 2017, pending regulatory and anti-trust approvals.