Magna to Buy Veoneer Driver-Assistance Unit for $1.5 Billion
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Magna International Inc. has agreed to buy a driver-assistance unit from SSW Partners for about $1.5 billion following a drawn-out battle to control previous parent Veoneer Inc.
The purchase will complement the Canadian-Austrian automotive supplier’s advanced driver-assistance business with combined sales expected to reach $3 billion in 2024, Magna said Dec. 20. The cash acquisition will also add engineering resources and expand the company’s customer base.
“We plan to accelerate innovation by building on both organizations’ strengths, including customers, suppliers, technology partners and employees,” Magna CEO Swamy Kotagiri said in a statement.
Carmakers and suppliers have been fine-tuning their approach to self-driving and driver-assistance systems after struggling to deliver meaningful progress on deploying robotaxis on public roads. Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. in November pulled their support from self-driving firm Argo, after pouring billions into the startup. Other carmakers like Tesla Inc. have also fallen short on self-driving goals.
Magna’s deal follows Qualcomm Inc. partnering with private equity group SSW last year to take Veoneer private for $4.5 billion. The U.S. chipmaking giant took the Arriver autonomous-driving software operation, while SSW worked alongside Veoneer management to buy the rest of the Swedish company with plans to sell it onwards.
The group trumped an earlier offer from Magna.
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