BorgWarner to buy electric motor maker Remy for $950M

BorgWarner agreed to buy Remy for $951 million in cash, driving further consolidation of the auto-parts industry.

BorgWarner will pay $29.50 a share, a 44 percent premium from Remy’s closing price on Friday, according to a statement today. The price indicates an enterprise value of about $1.2 billion, BorgWarner said. The maker of turbochargers and transmission parts said the deal is set to close in the fourth quarter and should add to earnings in the first year because of purchasing efficiencies and other savings.

Demand for fuel-saving technology and global scale is pushing auto-parts makers to consolidate. In May, TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. was acquired by German auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG for $12.4 billion.

“Our main focus has been organic growth, and that remains a prime path for us,” James Verrier, CEO of BorgWarner, said on a conference call. “But we’ve also been consistent about the need for M&A to add key technology to sustain that growth.”

The acquisition highlights the increasing importance of the electrification of the powertrain, which has not been a strength of BorgWarner’s, Verrier said.

BorgWarner rose 1 percent to $54.14 at 11:39 a.m. in New York, as Remy soared 42 percent to $29.18. This year through Friday, Remy had fallen 1.9 percent and BorgWarner had declined 2.4 percent.

Electric Powertrains

Buying Remy will add alternators, starters and hybrid motors, giving BorgWarner the ability to benefit as more powertrains blend electric power with traditional gasoline-fueled technology.

Some investors had been concerned that the move to hybrid engines would eventually cause BorgWarner to lose sales to automakers, Joseph Spak, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a research note today.

BorgWarner CFO Ron Hundzinski said he expects savings from the acquisition of at least $15 million annually within two years, in part by eliminating duplicate costs associated with a public company, and from lower purchasing expenses. He said he expects the Remy business to have profit margins in the mid-teens, similar to BorgWarner’s.

Former GM unit

Remy International, formerly known as Delco Remy, traces its roots to brothers Frank and Perry Remy, who developed magnetos, generators that used magnets to help start early automobiles. GM acquired Delco Remy in 1918 and spun it off in 1995. The name was changed to Remy International in 2004 and the Pendleton, Ind.-based company spent less than two months in bankruptcy in 2007.

Remy posted net income from continuing operations of $6.1 million last year on revenue of $1.2 billion. In 2013, it posted net income of $12.4 million on revenue of $1.1 billion.