Delphi Agrees to Sale of Catalysts Business

Delphi Corporation and certain of its affiliates has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Belgium-based Umicore for the sale of its global OE and aftermarket catalyst business, Delphi officials announced late yesterday.
As part of Delphi’s transformation plan, which was announced on March 31, 2006, Delphi identified the catalyst business as a non-core business line that would be better positioned within another firm.
Subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement, the aggregate purchase price for the assets related to the catalyst business is $55.6 million, subject to adjustments.
As required under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, Delphi filed a motion today with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York requesting a hearing on June 26, 2007, to approve bidding procedures, and a hearing on August 16, 2007, to approve the sale of assets.
Although the company is selling its catalyst business, it will continue to provide full engine management systems (EMS), including air and fuel management, combustion and valvetrain technology, and exhaust systems technology through its gas EMS product business unit.
Delphi is a global supplier of mobile electronics and transportation systems, including powertrain, safety, steering, thermal, and controls & security systems, electrical/electronic architecture, and in-car entertainment technologies.
Headquartered in Troy, Mich., Delphi has approximately 170,000 employees and operates 162 wholly owned manufacturing sites in 34 countries with sales of $26.4 billion in 2006.
Umicore is a materials technology group, and has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base; it generated a turnover of EUR 8.8 billion (EUR 1.9 billion excluding metal) in 2006 and currently employs some 17,000 people.