Hart makes billion-dollar bid for US car products group
Rich Lister Graeme Hart is spending $US950 million ($NZ1.23 billion) to buy the automotive consumer products group owned by giant US corporation Honeywell.
Hot Topic
EARNINGS
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart is spending $US950 million ($NZ1.23 billion) to buy the automotive consumer products group (CPG) owned by giant United States corporation Honeywell.
Mr Hart's private investment firm Rank Group will pay cash for the automotive CPG, based in Danbury, Connecticut, the New York Times reported today.
The company being bought by Auckland-base Rank makes Prestone antifreeze, Fram filters and Autolite spark plugs among other brands. It had sales of $US1 billion last year.
"While CPG is a good business, it doesn't fit with our portfolio of differentiated, global technologies," Dave Cote, chief executive of Honeywell, said in a statement.
The newspaper reported the deal was part of a big push in the United States by Rank, which late last year agreed to acquire UCI International, another auto parts company, for $US605 million, including taking on the company's debt from the Carlyle Group.
And earlier in the year, Rank made a deal to pay $US6 billion for the packaging giant Pactiv, the maker of Hefty bags.
Mr Hart, 55, is former tow-truck driver who made his initial fortune by buying Government Print at a firesale price in the first big sales of state-owned assets nearly 30 years ago. Since then he has invested in food and grocery deals to become the nation's richest man, last year estimated to be worth $5.5b.
NZPA
Sat, 29 Jan 2011
Sat, 29 Jan 2011
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Free News Alerts
Sign up to get the latest stories and insights delivered to your inbox – free, every day.
Hart makes billion-dollar bid for US car products group
11935