Houlihan Lokey Advises Cooper Standard

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Cooper Standard (NYSE:CPS) has divested its European rubber fluid transfer and speciality sealing businesses, as well as its Indian operations, to Mutares SE & Co. KGaA (XTRA:MUX; Mutares). The agreement includes approximately 2,500 employees and two manufacturing facilities in Poland, one manufacturing facility in both Spain and Italy, and the company's operations in India.The transaction closed 1 July 2020. 

Cooper Standard is a leading global supplier of systems and components for transportation and industrial markets. The broad product offering includes sealing, fuel and brake delivery, and fluid transfer systems. With more than 50 years of automotive excellence, Cooper Standard has a long tradition of providing customers with the highest quality and most innovative solutions. Headquartered in Northville, Michigan, Cooper Standard employs approximately 28,000 people and operates in 21 countries around the world.

Mutares is a private equity firm investing in medium-sized companies or parts of groups headquartered in Europe. Mutares acquires companies that offer clear potential for improvement and actively supports and develops its portfolio companies. In 2019, the firm's portfolio companies generated consolidated revenues of €1,016 million and employed more than 6,500 people worldwide.

The transaction perimeter in Europe consists of two plants in Poland and one in Spain offering rubber fluid transfer systems. The Italian plant is a key supplier of speciality sealing solutions and also serves as a manufacturer and raw material supplier (compound) to the European plants. The Indian operations comprise sealing solutions as well as fuel and brake delivery systems for the automotive industry with seven production plants. The blue-chip customer base includes world-leading automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers as well as internationally renowned manufacturers of speciality vehicles, such as agricultural and industrial machinery and trucks. With an international workforce of around 2,500 employees, the businesses generated revenues of approximately €180 million in 2019.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive sellside advisor to Cooper Standard and assisted in structuring and negotiating the carve-out transaction on the company's behalf. This transaction highlights Houlihan Lokey's deep knowledge of the automotive and transportation sector and represents the firm's access to financial sponsors as well as its continued success advising global industrial companies in complex carve-out situations.