Through Specma Hydraulic AB, parent company in the Specma Group business area, Investment AB Latour has signed an agreement to divest 100 percent of shares in Autotube AB to Accent Equity 2008. The deal is among others conditional on approval by the Swedish Competition Authority and it is expected to be completed in March.
Autotube AB is one of Swedens leading manufacturers of vehicle components for air and fluid distribution in heavy vehicles and cars. The company manipulates and sells pipes and tubes in different materials and assembles them in different combinations for delivery straight to customers assembly lines. The company operates in Varberg and Ulricehamn in Sweden and has a number of customers in the automotive industry in Sweden and abroad. The company has a little over 220 employees and had net sales of SEK 357 million in 2010 as well as an operating result of SEK 21 million.
The divestiture is a part of Latours continuous revision of the structure in the industrial and trading operations where the number of business areas was reduced from six to four in 2010. Net borrowings in the Latour Group will be reduced by about SEK 160 million through this transaction.
Gothenburg 1 March 2011
INVESTMENT AB LATOUR
Jan Svensson, President and CEO
For further information please contact:
Jan Svensson, President and CEO, Investment AB Latour, tel. +46 705 77 16 40 or
Ola Sjölin, Specma Group Business Area Manager, tel. +46 706 67 24 68.
Specma Group is one of four wholly owned business areas in Latour. The companies in the business area develop, manufacture and market application-adapted hydraulics systems, conduction components and hydraulics components to customers on the Nordic market and to their subsidiaries outside of the Nordic region. Remaining operations in the business area have annual net sales of approximately SEK 1,100 million.
Investment AB Latour is a mixed investment company consisting of an investment portfolio with a market value of about SEK 10 billion and wholly owned industrial and trading operations with total net sales of about SEK 6.5 billion.