Continental AG in Talks with Potential Buyers of Parts of VDO

(Akron/Tire Review) Continental AG is in talks to spin off Electric Motor Drives, which is part of Siemens AG’s former VDO unit, management board member and human resources head Heinz-Gerhard Wente said. He said there is strong interest in the unit, which has 3,300 employees. Wente added that Continental has started exchanging information with potential buyers but has not entered negotiations.

The European Commission is set to decide on Continental’s 13.5 billion euro VDO acquisition on November 15. Until then, Continental is not allowed to negotiate the spin-off of parts of VDO. Wente said that German automotive parts supplier Brose and an unnamed Japanese company are interested in acquiring Electric Motor Drives, citing sources close to the talks. It said industry sources put the sale price at around 500 million euros.