25th
September 2008 - Brembo
Purchases Remaining Shares of BCBS from Daimler
| The Company is leader in
design, development and production of carbon ceramic brake
discs. |
| BCBS approved new
investments for over € 10 millions in order to double its
production capacity. |
Brembo, leader in high performance brake
systems, signed an agreement with Daimler for acquiring 50% of Brembo
Ceramic Brake Systems S.p.A. (BCBS), until now a 50-50 joint-venture. On
the basis of the joint-venture agreement and in a framework of wider
negotiations with Daimler, the agreed upon price is equal to € 9
million.
BCBS has been designing, developing and
manufacturing carbon ceramic brake discs since 2004 and should close the
current year with sales of about € 27 million, a net profit around break
even after R&D costs equal to 10% of sales and with a net debt of about
€ 6 million; the Company has also approved new investments for over €10
million in order to double its production capacity by H1 2009.
“Carbon ceramic discs technology is now
ready to be applied on a wider scale, after the intense development
performed with Daimler. The product is part of Brembo core-business and
Daimler will remain an important customer, for this as well as other
products, after contributing with its know-how to the development of
this very innovative material”, stated Alberto Bombassei, Chairman of
Brembo SpA. For this reason, R&D investments will continue with a view
to launch a new product next year, with features suitable for wider
scale applications. BCBS manufactures carbon ceramic brake discs for
high performance vehicles, such as Ferrari, Mercedes-Mc Laren, Aston
Martin and Corvette.
The Carbon Ceramic Material (CCM) is being
used since the 90’s for aerospace vehicles braking systems. Brembo
equipped the first road car in 2002, after 5 years of R&D investments to
develop automotive applications. Compared with traditional cast iron
discs, the CCM guarantees advantages in terms of performance in dry and
wet conditions, weight, comfort, corrosion resistance and high lifetime.
Brembo S.p.A. is the world leader and acknowledged
innovator of the brake disc technology for automotive vehicles. Brembo
supplies high performance brake systems for the most important
manufacturers of cars, commercial vehicles and motorbikes worldwide.
Moreover, Brembo is also a leader in the racing sector and has won more
than 200 championships. Today the company operates in 13 countries of 3
continents, with 25 production and business sites, and a pool of about
6000 employees, 9% of whom are engineers and product specialists active
in the R&D. The 2007 sales were equal to € 912 million. Brembo is the
owner of the Brembo, AP Racing, Marchesini and Sabelt brands.
Source: Brembo Press Release