ZF Ups Bid to Buy Haldex

The board of directors of Haldex Aktiebolag, the Sweden-based brake system manufacturer, announced on August 4 it has unanimously decided to recommend that Haldex shareholders accept a 4.4-billion SEK ($516 million) cash bid by Germany-based ZF.

The Haldex board also stated it had rejected an earlier offer made by Germany's SAF-Holland. That bid reportedly was for $495 million, or 5.9% less than what ZF has offered.

Should the deal be approved by Haldex shareholders and gain regulatory approvals, the global vehicle component manufacturer will pay 100 SEK a share in cash. According to ZF, that would amount to 34% more than the Swedish company's average share price prior to the offer made by SAF-Holland in mid-July.

“The Board has unanimously decided to recommend the Haldex shareholders to accept the ZF Offer, which is clearly superior to the SAF-HOLLAND offer,” Haldex said in an August 4 statement.

The move by ZF comes just over a year after it completed its acquisition of U.S.-based TRW.

ZF said that acquiring Haldex would enable it to include brake systems for commercial vehicles in its product mix. That will enable it “to cover the whole functional chain of commercial vehicles in line with 'See-Think-Act' (the aim of ZF's technology is to enable vehicles to see, think, and act autonomously) and transfer fuel efficiency, autonomous driving and safety systems technologies known from passenger cars to commercial vehicles.”

“We believe that our businesses are truly complementary and that a combination will offer unique value for all stakeholders,” said ZF CEO Stefan Sommer. “We are confident that we will be able to continue to develop Haldex's market position under ZF ownership, thanks to ZF's technological leadership, global reach and customer access, combined with Haldex's technological competence, management skills and employees.”

Magnus Johansson, Board member and spokesperson of the Board of Haldex, said that ZF's capabilities will allow the company to continue its development of future braking systems and expand its current product portfolio.

“The offer provides Haldex shareholders with an opportunity to realize value from their investment immediately at both high multiples and significant premium to recently traded prices of Haldex's shares as well as a premium to the SAF-Holland offer,” said Johansson.

Sommer said, per a Bloomberg report, that acquiring Haldex would increase ZF's annual revenue from truck components to about 4 billion euros ($4.45 billion) from 3.5 billion euros, accounting for 15% to 20% of group sales.

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

Yokohama Tire Names Senior Director of Commercial Sales

Funkhouser

Yokohama Tire Corporation has promoted Dan Funkhouser to senior director of commercial sales. His responsibilities will include all business segments in the commercial division, according to Rick Phillips, vice president of sales.

"Dan has been with Yokohama for more than 20 years and has enjoyed much success in the various roles he's held during his career," said Phillips. "His years of experience with the company and his business acumen will serve him well in this new role."

Funkhouser was promoted to director of commercial dealer business in 2014. He joined the company in 1994 as a district sales representative in Minnesota and was promoted to national account manager in 1998. In 2008, Funkhouser was promoted to manager of national accounts.

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

Providing pay, perks, and more to retain safe truck drivers

When the talk in trucking turns to ways of finding and keeping good drivers long-term, Brent Bergevin, vice president of transportation for tanker fleet Gemini Motor Transport believes in a simple philosophy: go big – especially in terms of safety bonuses.

read more

VW’s $15B settlement

Volkswagen has made national headlines for a diesel emissions cheating scandal that has resulted in a $14.7-billion settlement with the U.S. government.

The settlement has been shaped to offset the smog-forming NOx emissions from the 2L diesel vehicles sold by VW during the 2009 to 2015 timeframe. Emissions from the cars were found to be as much as 40 times above legal limits, contributing to unhealthful air.

read more

Robyn Freeman promoted at Aljex Software

Robyn Freeman has been named executive vice president of sales & marketing for Aljex Software, according to Aljex CEO Tom Heine. Previously executive vice president of sales, Freeman is now responsible for the rapidly growing software company's entire marketing effort, according to the company.

According to Aljex, Freeman joined the company in 2007 in sales and has risen consistently since. She was named vice president of sales in 2010, then executive vice president of sales in February this year.

read more

Wind River’s Mobile Exhibit

Vehicle software and its connections ot the Internet of Things (IoT) is something that at times is hard to describe. That's one reason why Wind River put together a mobile exhibit that it could take on the road to places such as the TU-Automotive Show in Detroit back in June, so it could show off its Helix chassis system designed to support next-generation connected vehicles as well as self-driving ones. (All photos by Sean Kilcarr/Fleet Owner)

read more

Goodyear rolls out Workhorse tires

The new Workhorse line of tires being rolled out by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is being at mixed-service applications, primarily vocational duty-cycles, where trucks need solid on- and off-road performance.

read more