ContiTech Given Approval for UK Acquisition

Germany’s Federal Cartel Office and corporate competitiveness watchdog, the BundesKartellamt, has given the all clear for Continental’s purchase of UK based company Thermopol International Limited. The German automotive supplier intends to integrate Thermopol into the Fluid Technology business unit of its daughter company, ContiTech.

Thermopol, whose annual sales for 2005/6 reached approximately £30 million, is primarily involved in the manufacture of silicon hoses for the auto industry. The company employs some 500 people in the UK, USA, Romania, China and South Korea.

ContiTech spokesman Mario Töpfer told Dow Jones Newswires that negotiations with Thermopol were still underway at present. The deal’s final settlement date is as yet not known.