Automotive Newsletter Q4 2018

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M&A and financial market statistics in the automotive industry

In Q4 2018, M&A activity decreased by 47% compared to Q4 2017 in terms of completed deals whilst the aggregated deal value of completed transactions reduced to c. €1.5bn.

These changes are closely connected to the current political tensions between the US and the Chinese administration in terms of trade tariffs, as well as the rise of interest rates in September 2018 by the US Federal Reserve Bank for the third time last year.

In Q4 2018, automotive multiples decreased slightly in Europe: EV/EBITDA multiples by 18%; and EV/EBIT multiples by 14% compared to Q3 2018. In the US and Asia, multiples also dropped: EV/EBITDA by 12% in the US and by 13% in Asia; and EV/EBIT by 9% in the US and by 2% in Asia.

Automotive Newsletter Q4 2018 Deal Volume

Top M&A Deals Q4 2018

  • US-based Honeywell International Inc., which operates in the aerospace, control technologies, automotive products, turbochargers and specialty materials industries, has spun off its Swiss turbochargers business, Garrett Motion Inc., into a separate entity, which will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with an implied equity value of €1,125m.
  • Greenbriar Equity Group LLC, a US private equity firm, has acquired Spireon Inc., the US-based provider of GPS tracking solutions to the subprime automotive finance industry, from Bertram Capital Management LLC, a US private equity firm, for a consideration of €303m.
  • Gnutti Carlo S.p.A., an Italian manufacturer of valve train and fuel injection system components, has acquired TCG Unitech AG, an Austria-based developer, manufacturer and distributor of precision components, modules and systems in die cast aluminium, magnesium and injection moulded plastic, from Friedrich Hillebrand, Karl Grigkar and Peter Bertalanffy, three Austrian private investors, for an undisclosed consideration.
Automotive Newsletter Q4 2018 Bond Issuances

Read more in our latest Automotive Newsletter.

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