Magna corporate head office in Aurora, Ont.GEOFF ROBINS
Magna International Inc. has acquired Karmann Japan Co. Ltd., a maker of convertible tops and a subsidiary of Wilhelm Karmann, GmbH of Germany.
The Canadian auto parts giant made the announcement Thursday in conjunction with the release of its year-end financial results.
Magna will combine the Karmann operations with its existing car top systems operations, which were purchased for Porsche.
The company is also close to finalizing the purchase of Karmann's roof operations in Germany and Poland, chief financial officer Vince Galifi said on a conference call Thursday.
Magna says it had higher sales and a reduced loss in the fourth quarter.
The company's net loss was $139-million or $1.25 per share, an improvement on the year-earlier loss of $148-million or $1.33 per diluted share.
Sales grew to $5.4-billion from $4.8-billion.
Magna has been awarded $1-billion (U.S.) worth of business from auto makers shifting contracts from other parts makers, co-chief executive officer Don Walker said on the conference call.
More to come