Ford sells ACH lighting operations in Ohio to unit of Flex-N-Gate
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DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co.'s Automotive Components Holdings unit reached an agreement to sell its headlamp and taillight business to Ventra Sandusky LLC, a unit of Flex-N-Gate.
The sale includes a plant in Sandusky, Ohio, which will operate as Ventra Sandusky. Under the deal, Ventra Sandusky will also operate ACH's automotive lighting service parts operation in Bellevue, Ohio.
Terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to be completed on June 30, Ford said.
Ventra Sandusky said it will offer jobs to most of the 1,100 salaried and hourly workers at the Sandusky and Bellevue sites.
The sale will leave ACH with one operation: a climate control business in Plymouth Township, Mich., with 700 employees.
Ford reacquired 17 automotive parts plants and 2,500 workers in 2005 as part of a financial rescue of its former Visteon Corp. unit.
A Ford spokeswoman said today that eight of the plants, and a portion of another factory, have been sold; five sites were closed; and 2 plants were transferred to Ford.
"Our aim was to ensure an orderly transition for employees and provide ready access to high-quality components for Ford, even while we restructured and prepared these operations for sale or disposition," Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, said in a statement. "We have been working our plan and living up to our commitment for six years."
Tony Brown, head of global purchasing for Ford, said the deal will ensure financial stability and diversity in Ford's supply base, while aiding minority suppliers.
In 2011, Ford spent more than $5 billion -- a company record -- in purchases from minority-owned businesses.
Flex-N-Gate is considered a minority supplier by Ford because its CEO -- Shahid Khan -- is a wealthy Pakistani-born businessman who owns the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League.
Flex-N-Gate, a privately held supplier based in Urbana, Ill., said the acquisition will strengthen the company's vehicle lighting business.
"This … provides us with terrific opportunities to continue our successful growth with Ford, our employees and local Ohio and Michigan communities," Khan said in a statement.
You can reach David Phillips at dphillips@crain.com.
