Continental finalizes Veyance acquisition

Feb. 3, 2015 – Continental has concluded its acquisition of the U.S. rubber company Veyance Technologies Inc. of Fairlawn, Ohio, on January 30. The day before, the Brazilian antitrust authority CADE (Council for Economic Defence) cleared the transaction with certain conditions, thus providing the approvals necessary for completion.

International automotive supplier and tire manufacturer Continental said it is boosting its worldwide industrial business with this acquisition, which is valued at 1.4 billion euros (US$1.9 billion). Veyance operates globally in the field of rubber and plastics technology with its product focus on conveyor belts, hoses and power transmission belts.

“This acquisition will bring Continental a significant step closer to its strategic goal of further increasing the proportion of industrial and end-customer business in its sale,” said Dr. Elmar Degenhart, chair of Continental’s board in Hanover.

“Another very important point is that the acquisition will enable us to significantly expand our industrial and end-customer business and, as a result, enable ContiTech to achieve a share of almost 60 percent of its sales outside the automotive original equipment sector,” added Heinz-Gerhard Wente, a member of Continental’s board and CEO of the ContiTech division.