Aequita, an international industrial group headquartered in Munich, has strengthened its automotive portfolio through the acquisition of TMD Friction, a specialist in automotive brake friction technology. TMD Friction has been acquired from Nisshinbo Holdings, its Japanese parent company. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to approvals.
TMD Friction Group employs more than 4,200 people worldwide, with locations across Europe, the USA, Brazil, Mexico, China and Japan. TMD Friction says its leadership team has been involved in the acquisition process throughout and is working to ensure a smooth transition of the TMD Friction Group to Aequita ownership.
“This deal comes at exactly the right time for TMD, and we could have no better partner than Aequita. It provides us with the best opportunity to run our business independently while strengthening our competitiveness, further driving our own ongoing transformation, and expanding our position as the trusted supplier of brake friction solutions to a diversified portfolio of leading OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, and the international independent aftermarket,” said David Baines, CEO of TMD Friction.
Baines added that Aequita will be more than just a financial investor to TMD, as it will help build profit and future growth at the company. Aequita’s automotive division records sales of more than two billion Euros per year, from its supplier divisions including the IFA Group (Germany), the Signata Group, the Meteor Group and the Willi Elbe Group.
TMD Friction is a global brake friction supplier to the automotive and brake industries, developing and manufacturing disc brake pads and drum brake linings for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The company supplies products for original equipment, as well as in the international aftermarket through its Textar, Mintex, Don, Pagid, Cobreq, Nisshinbo, and Bendix brands. The product portfolio also includes brake friction products for motor racing under the Pagid Racing and Mintex Racing brands. and for industry applications under the Cosid brand.
“TMD is a tremendous company and a great addition to our automotive division. With more than 135 years in the brake friction industry and its strong R&D know-how, TMD has established itself as the global partner of choice for its blue-chip customer base – strong fundamentals which we will build on.”, said Christoph Himmel, managing partner of Aequita.
“We believe that TMD offers significant growth potential in both, the OEM as well as the independent aftermarket. Together with the company’s great management team and employees, we will aim at materialising on these potentials.”
