German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen to buy TRW

Germany's car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen is to buy US company TRW Automotive to create a new sector giant, the two firms said Monday, in a deal worth nearly 10 billion euros.
ZF, Germany's third biggest auto parts maker, will pay $105.60 per TRW share, TRW said in a statement, adding the deal would create "a global leader in the automotive supplier business with pro forma combined sales of approximately 30 billion euros ($41 billion)".
ZF said the deal was worth $12.4 billion, while an AFP calculation of the number of TRW shares put it at $11.7 billion and TRW spoke of about $13.5 billion on an enterprise value basis.
"Together ZF and TRW will be uniquely positioned to benefit from the megatrends of the automotive industry on a global basis," ZF said in its statement.
The combined company will have 138,000 employees, it added.
TRW said its board had unanimously approved the transaction.
ZF earlier announced it had sold its 50-percent stake in ZFLS, a steering systems producer, to its partner in the venture, Bosch, for an undisclosed sum.
ZF, based on the shores of Lake Constance in southern Germany, announced in July that it was in talks with TRW.
Media reports and analysts had said the sale of the ZFLS stake was a condition for the purchase of TRW.
ZF has indicated that TRW will be operated as a separate business division, the US company said.