ArvinMeritor Sells Aftermarket Exhaust Business

ArvinMeritor, Inc. has sold its North American Light Vehicle Aftermarket (LVA) exhaust business based in Loudon, Tenn. and Moncton, N.B. to International Muffler Company.
International Muffler Company (IMCO) is a producer of aftermarket exhaust systems and components based in Schulenburg, Texas. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“This transaction will further enhance ArvinMeritor’s goal to strengthen our financial position and focus on our core operations,” according to Chip McClure, ArvinMeritor chairman, CEO and president. “This sale also provides the LVA exhaust group the opportunity to grow with IMCO.”
The divestiture affects approximately 500 employees at the Loudon and Moncton facilities.
The announcement follows the recent agreement to spin off the Purolator filter business of ArvinMertor to a joint venture of Robert Bosch and Mann+Hummel.
These moves follow word late in 2005 that ArvinMeritor would be seeking to divest its Light Vehicle Aftermarket holdings piecemeal rather than as a whole, which had been the previous strategy.
The most recent announcement leaves only the Gabriel ride control business as a major part of the unit still to be sold.