Canton, OH-based The Timken Company has agreed to sell its Needle Roller Bearings business – which serves customers mostly in the automotive OEM sector – to Japan’s JTEKT Corp. JTEKT will pay $300 million in cash.
"This transaction is a major step forward in our strategy to transform our portfolio to focus on industrial sectors with strong aftermarkets," said James W. Griffith, Timken president and CEO. "It positions us to concentrate our resources on areas where we can realize mutual value with our customers."
The Needle Roller Bearings business was part of the broader Torrington acquisition Timken made in 2003. It had sales of $621 million in 2008 and has 3,400 employees. The business, with 12 manufacturing facilities and three engineering technology centers, manufactures highly engineered needle roller bearings, including radial and thrust needle roller bearings, as well as bearing assemblies and loose needles, for automotive and industrial applications. Facilities included in the agreement are:
North America: Cairo, GA; Dahlonega, GA; Sylvania, GA; Greenville, SC; Walhalla, SC; and Bedford, Quebec, Canada.
Europe: Brno and Olomouc, Czech Republic; Maromme, Moult, and Vierzon, France; Kuensebeck, Germany; and Bilbao, Spain.
Asia: LiYuan District, China.
JTEKT Corp. is a Japanese manufacturer of steering systems, driveline components, bearings and machine tools used in applications including automobiles, jet engines, windmill power generators, and bullet trains. JTEKT has operations in 70 locations worldwide, and had sales of $10.9 billion as of March 31, 2009.
Timken had sales of $5.7 billion in 2008 and operations in 26 countries.
