Focus On Core Business As Continental Seeks To Sell ContiTech

The executive board of Continental AG has told the supervisory board that it is looking to sell the majority of the ContiTech group, in order to concentrate on the core business of chassis technology supply to the auto industry. Continental will retain two of the business units; Air Springs Systems and Vibration Control, which had a combined turnover last year of 310 million Euros and have a workforce of 2,700. The move, says Continental, is a logical progression along the path that it took when it purchased Teves, which manufactures electronic brake systems such as ABS and ESP – a path which places the company firmly as a supplier of chassis management systems.

The revenue from the ContiTech sale will enable Continental to concentrate on this area, and could possibly be used for new acquisitions. Continental’s management is looking for a buyer who will operate the complete enterprise, which had sales last year of 1.4 billion Euros, and which employs 14,000.

The units affected by the sale include Fluid (hose and hose assemblies), which has 8 sites in Europe outside Germany, as well as a presence in Latin and South America and China; Power Transmissions Systems (Germany, China, Brazil and UK); Sealing Systems (Germany, Spain, Slovak Republic); Elastomer Coatings (Germany); Benecke-Kaliko (Germany, Portugal, Brazil, USA) and Conveyor Belt Systems (Germany, Greece, Mexico, Chile). Continental’s executive board has said that it believes these operations will develop better when outside the Continental Group and owned by a company specialising in these fields. .