Johnson Controls to Buy Delkor

American supplier Johnson Controls announced today it has reached an agreement with the Delkor Corporation to purchase 90 percent of their existing joint venture. The Delkor JV, based in South Korea, is part of the 2005 acquisition of Delphi's global automotive battery business and will allow the remaining 10 percent to be acquired by the local management team.

The deal is expected to conclude on August 15 at the latest. Johnson Controls will invest $90 million in the JV and an extra $40 million to boost Delkor's production capacity by 2.7 million units to 10 million batteries each year.

"Delkor is a strong and well-respected brand in Asia," Alex Molinaroli, Johnson Controls Power Solutions president said. "The acquisition further represents our commitment to local manufacturing presence and growth in Asia, complementing our recent announcements regarding our planned investments in China."

"We have every confidence that the Delkor management team will continue to serve our customers with the same reputation they have in the marketplace for quality and service as we continue to grow the business," said Molinaroli.

Johnson Controls is currently engaged in an expansion program which started with the attempt to take over some of Visteon's assets earlier this year. In June, the supplier announced it has purchased in Canadian hybrid electric and electric technologies manufacturer Azure Dynamics.

The supplier's Power Solutions division also set up Johnson Controls-Saft, the first dedicated lithium-ion batteries manufacturing company in the world. According to the company, one third of the world's lead-acid batteries are manufactured in one of their 30 plants.