Takata Corp., the Japanese air bag maker company’s acquisition by the U.S. mobility safety company Key Safety Systems has been completed.
Key Safety won a stalking horse bid to acquire the embattled Japanese supplier out of bankruptcy, which it filed last year.
Takata rebranded as Joyson Safety Systems, new safety solution
Takata’s malfunctioning airbag inflators, which have sent shards of metal into drivers and passengers and are linked to at least 17 deaths globally, have plagued it for more than eight years.
With pressure mounting, the 84-year-old Takata filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan and its U.S. subsidiary, Auburn Hills-based TK Holdings Inc., filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware on June 25 in a prepackaged agreement to sell to Key Safety, which beat out nearly a half dozen competitors.
Under the deal, Key Safety’s management vows to maintain Takata’s 40,000-person employment base, with the exception of its problematic ammonium nitrate airbag inflator business, which is expected to end operation after the sale.
The Takata name will disappear after the new company is rebranded as Joyson Safety Systems, according to Key Safety Systems, whose parent company is Joyson Electronics, headquartered in Ningbo in eastern China.
Joyson Safety Systems Executive Chairman Jeff Wang said that they are excited about the opportunities created through this combination, of bringing together Takata and Key Safety Systems. And they are committed to providing safety solutions of the highest quality and reliability to drive the next generations of mobility.
