Ayala sudsidiary buys German industrial house

AC Industrials Group president and chief executive officer Arthur Tan. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines–The Ayala conglomerate has boosted its industrial arm with a deal to acquire a controlling stake in C-CON Group, a German engineering, design and manufacturing group catering to the automotive space.

A unit of Ayala’s wholly-owned subsidiary AC Industrial Technology Holdings Inc. (AC Industrials) announced on Wednesday a deal to acquire 75.1 percent of C-CON Group.

The acquisition, which amounted to less than 10 percent of Ayala’s total equity, was made through MT Technologies, which is headquartered in Bavaria, Germany and has two production plants in Ingolstadt and Kinding.

Founded in 1991 and with eight locations and over 200 employees that span Germany’s automotive hubs, C-CON and its subsidiaries deliver design, development, engineering, manufacturing, series production, and process management services directly to leading German automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). These capabilities are seen to complement and strengthen MT’s existing competencies in modelling, tooling, and parts manufacturing.

C-CON holds proprietary expertise in the production of parts made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) – described as a versatile material which provides high strength, light weight, and aesthetic benefits in several applications, including automotive, aerospace, and industrials.

Post-completion of the transaction, the C-CON group will be fully integrated into MT, enhancing the latter’s overall business proposition as an integrated supplier and partner to automakers throughout the industry value chain.

“The acquisition and integration of the C-CON Group into MT is in line with AC Industrials’ strategies – to own, develop, and bring to market potentially disruptive technologies aligned with worldwide megatrends, and to deepen our presence in the global automotive space. C-CON significantly advances MT’s goal to offer end-to-end engineering, design, and manufacturing services to its automotive customers,” AC Industrials Group president and chief executive officer Arthur Tan said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“Beyond these, the addition of C-CON’s unique lightweight and high-strength carbon fiber technology further positions MT and AC Industrials to participate in the ongoing transformation of the mobility space, while opening the potential for applications in new markets such as aerospace, marine, architecture, and power generation,” Tan said. /jpv