DGAP-News: HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA: Exit from joint venture: HELLA agrees sale of HELLA held HBPO shares to Plastic Omnium

Lippstadt, 28 July 2022

Exit from joint venture: HELLA agrees sale of HELLA held HBPO shares to Plastic Omnium

• Further milestone reached in sharpening HELLA‘s profile as a technology company with Lighting, Electronics and Lifecycle Solutions at its core
• Closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2022

Global automotive supplier HELLA, which operates under the umbrella brand FORVIA, has agreed the sale of its 33.33 percent stake in HBPO Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (“HBPO”) to its co-shareholder, Plastic Omnium. The relevant share purchase and assignment agreement was signed today. The agreed purchase price amounts to 290 million euros (cum dividend of around 8 million euros). The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter of 2022.

By selling its stake in HBPO, global automotive supplier HELLA is continuing its proven course of consistent portfolio management. HELLA CEO Michel Favre says: "Together with our partners, we have successfully positioned HBPO as one of the leading suppliers of highly integrated front-end modules. In order to further sharpen our profile as a focused technology company with Lighting, Electronics as well as Lifecycle Solutions at its core, we have now decided to exit the joint venture. By purchasing our shares in the joint venture, Plastic Omnium will get the opportunity to further increase the focus of HBPO’s development, offering stakeholders a strong outlook."

HBPO, headquartered in Lippstadt (Germany), was established in 2004 as a joint venture between three automotive suppliers, HELLA, Behr (today MAHLE) and Plastic Omnium. MAHLE sold its 33.33 percent share to Plastic Omnium in 2018. Together, the partners achieved their goal of establishing one of the leading suppliers of integrated front-end modules. In the 2021 calendar year, HBPO generated € 2.2 billion in revenue, and has 2,800 employees at more than 30 locations in Europe, Asia and America.

Please note: This text and corresponding photo material can also be found in our press database at: www.hella.com/press 

About HELLA

HELLA is a listed, internationally positioned automotive supplier operating under the umbrella brand FORVIA. Within this factual group, HELLA stands for high-performance lighting technology and automotive electronics. At the same time, the company covers a broad service and product portfolio for the spare parts and workshop business as well as for manufacturers of special vehicles with its Business Group Lifecycle Solutions. HELLA has 36,000 employees at more than 125 locations worldwide and generated preliminary currency and portfolio-adjusted sales of € 6.2 billion in the fiscal year 2021/2022.

About FORVIA

FORVIA comprises the complementary technology and industrial strengths of Faurecia and HELLA. With over 300 industrial sites and 77 R&D centers, 150,000 people, including more than 35,000 engineers across 40+ countries, FORVIA provides a unique and comprehensive approach to the automotive challenges of today and tomorrow. Composed of six Business Groups with 24 product lines, and a strong IP portfolio of over 14,000 patents, FORVIA is focused on becoming the preferred innovation and integration partner for OEMS worldwide. FORVIA aims to be a change maker committed to foreseeing and making the mobility transformation happen. www.forvia.com 

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Markus Richter      HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA
Company spokesman     Rixbecker Straße 75
Tel.: +49 (0)2941 38-7545                  59552 Lippstadt / Germany
Markus.Richter@forvia.com     www.hella.com