Continental Picks Goldman, JPMorgan for Car Parts Spinoff
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Continental AG has lined up banks to help with the separation of its struggling car parts business, according to people familiar with the matter, moving ahead with the plans despite recalls related to faulty braking systems it supplied.
The German company is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to prepare the automotive business for the spinoff, the people said. Deliberations are ongoing and details could still change, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
Representatives for Continental, JPMorgan and Goldman declined to comment.
The move signals Continental is pushing ahead even after BMW AG last month disclosed the spiraling cost of a recall affecting 1.5 million vehicles due to faults with their Continental braking systems. The system fault is expected to cost BMW nearly $1.1 billion to fix. A spokesperson for Continental has said they currently expect the cost of the brakes issue to be in the mid-double digit millions of euros.
Continental said in August that it’s considering a spinoff and listing of the unit, which makes products including brakes and automated driving systems and accounts for roughly half of group sales. In the plan — which would be the company’s biggest-ever restructuring — Continental would keep its profitable tires and ContiTech businesses.
In the separation, shareholders would receive stock in an independently listed entity with no new money raised. The company has said it will make a decision in the fourth quarter of this year, with a listing targeted by the end of 2025. Continental recently invited investment banks to pitch for a role on the planned spinoff, Bloomberg News reported last month.
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The automotive business — which employs around 100,000 people and generated sales of around €20.3 billion in the past fiscal year — has been struggling with significant investment requirements and waning demand. Higher interest rates are weighing on car buying, and auto sales remain below expectations in China, where German brands are struggling to keep up with local competition led by BYD Co.
Continental’s automotive business could be valued at about 4.3 billion euros based on a sum-of-the-parts analysis, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Written by Swetha Gopinath, Eyk Henning and Aaron Kirchfeld
