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28 March, 2024

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Nidec buys Valeo`s motors business for €165m
Published:  15 December, 2006

The Japanese motor-maker Nidec is buying the electric motor and actuator activities of the French automotive components giant Valeo for around €165m. The deal will give Nidec — whose main business has traditionally been supplying precision motors to the IT industry — a strong foothold in the expanding automotive motors market.

The Valeo Motors & Actuators (VMA) business employs around 1,800 people at sites in Europe, North America and China. Last year it generated sales worth €253m, and a nett income of €9m. Valeo wants to focus on other areas such as driver assistance, powertrain efficiency and comfort enhancement.

Nidec says that VMA will give it a channel into the automotive market with operations in all of the world`s main regions. The deal will also provide access to engineers with in-car motor expertise that would have been difficult to find in Japan.

Nidec, founded in 1973, already employs around 100,000 people and has sales worth more than €4,000m. It operates 19 manufacturing sites, mostly in Asia.

More than half of Nidec`s business is the manufacture of small precision motors for applications such as computer hard disk drives and fans. Its product portfolio also includes encoders, robots, automation equipment, and motor-driven actuators.

Nidec, which claims to have been the first company to commercialise direct-drive brushless spindle motors for hard disk drives, now supplies motors to other markets such as industrial machinery, domestic appliances and office equipment. It has set itself the goal of becoming the world`s number one manufacturer of "comprehensive drive technology".

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