Ayala unit divests from German car parts maker

AYALA Corp.’s AC Industrial Technology Holdings, Inc. has sold its stake in German auto parts maker MT Technologies GmbH (MT) in a bid to refocus on the expansion of its other units.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Tuesday, Ayala said that AC Industrials completed an agreement on Aug. 18 for the sale of its 92.45% stake to Germany-based Callista Asset Management 18 GmbH, which is an affiliate of Callista Private Equity.

“The transaction will result in an approximately 26 million euro loss, to be booked by AC Industrials and in turn Ayala,” the company said.

AC Industrials’ shares in MT were previously held via its Singaporean subsidiary, AC Industrials (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. MT was folded into AC Industrials in 2017.

“The sale will be executed alongside a sale and leaseback by MT of its property in Ingolstadt and assignment of shareholder loans to the purchaser,” the company said.

Aside from the 92.45% stake, Ayala said that MT’s minority shareholders also sold their shares, which resulted in the 100% transfer of MT’s ownership to Callista.

MT is a German auto parts maker engaged in the design and manufacture of injection molds for metal and plastic car parts.

“The sale of MT continues Ayala’s strategic priority to realize value through a combination of strategic partnerships and divestments from certain non-core assets. Ayala will sharpen its focus on the continued expansion of its core businesses in real estate, banking, telecommunications, and power, and scaling up its emerging businesses in healthcare and logistics,” the company added.

Apart from MT, Callista said in a separate statement on its website that it also acquired the C-CON Group from AC Industrials.

“Callista announces the acquisition of MT and C-CON Group from AC Industrials, a subsidiary of AC Industrials (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.,” the company said.

“[MT and C-CON Group] have 313 employees distributed across eight locations in Germany (Ingolstadt, Munich, Lebach, Eitensheim, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Neuburg, Kinding, und Hannover) and generated 46 million euros in sales in 2022. The companies serve leading automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers with their expertise in engineering, design, over modelling, a tool shop, special machinery to serial production,” it added. 

In 2019, a share purchase agreement was signed by MT to acquire 75.1% of C-Con Group, which provides design, development, engineering, manufacturing, series production, and process management services to German automotive OEMs.

“Callista will continue to pursue the ongoing restructuring path and support with its turnaround expertise to bring the [two companies] back to profitability. Part of the strategy is also the collaboration with Schäfer Group, which was recently acquired by Callista and is also active in the engineering, design, modelling and prototyping for the automotive industry,” Callista said.

On Tuesday, Ayala shares retreated P5 or 0.85% to finish at P585 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave