Automotive News Canada - April 2023 - 13

* APRIL 2023
13
For ABC Technologies, 'EV' could spell success
A new management team
was brought in last year to
reposition the company;
five EV programs from four
automakers represent 75
per cent of new contracts
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
A NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM, NEW
operating model and several newly added
business units have put Canadian plastics
and lightweighting company ABC
Technologies Holdings
Inc. on a path to supporting
electric vehicle
production.
CEO Terry Campbell
said the Toronto-based
supplier has undergone
a " pretty significant
transformation "
since he took over last
August.
" We did quite a bit
of restructuring over
the past six, seven
months, and we're well
on our way to yield
the benefits that we
know are ahead, " he
told Automotive News
Canada.
This positive outlook
has not come without
some growing pains.
Among other steps
Campbell: " We
did quite a bit
of restructuring
over the past
six, seven
months, and
we're well on
our way to yield
the benefits
that we know
are ahead. "
SUPPLIED PHOTO
taken to revamp global operations, ABC's
board approved in October plans to shut
down a plant in Poland. The company followed
this up in February with the sale of
a 50-per-cent interest in four joint-venture
plants: one in Canada, one in Mexico and
two in the United States.
ABC also laid off about 150 corporate
staff during the first quarter of its 2023 fiscal
year - July through September 2022
- as it reorganized into three operating
units, down from six.
Founded in 1974, ABC now employs
about 2,500 workers in Canada across 13
plants. Globally, its footprint, including
joint ventures, extends to 44 plants and
about 10,500 workers. It is publicly traded,
though majority-owned by the U.S.based
private equity firm Apollo Global
Management Inc.
Campbell previously held leadership
roles at suppliers such as Woodbridge
Group, Johnson Controls Inc. and Magna
International Inc., and was brought in
by ABC with a handful of other outside
senior executives last year to refocus its
business.
EXPAND IS THE PLAN
The new team's reassessment of ABC's
footprint has been coupled with expansion.
On March 1, the company closed on a
US $165 million acquisition of Windsor
Mold Group Technologies in Windsor, Ont.
The company builds tooling for automakers
and parts suppliers at its nine plants
across North America.
The deal is a good strategic fit that will
expand ABC's product offering, build out
its injection-molding expertise and deepen
its relationship with two domestic
automakers and a Japan-based automaker
operating in North America, Campbell
said.
The combined business will also have a
larger network behind it, he said.
" Scale and stability are very important
to the OEMs. "
The purchase follows up on a pair of
CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
now, I'm probably more against
[profit-sharing] than I am for it, "
Penny said. " We get a signing
bonus, we get a yearly bonus;
they [U.S. workers] don't get
that. "
She also questions whether
the timing is right for profit-sharing
provisions as the
automotive industry undergoes
a transformation to electric
vehicles.
" I have to get more facts. "
MANY DEMANDS ON TABLE
Profit-sharing is one of several
issues that members working
at the Detroit Three highlighted
in their responses to the questionnaire,
said Dino Chiodo,
Unifor's director
of automotive.
2023
DETROIT
THREE
CONTRACT
NEGOTIATIONS
" So, there's
research work
that's being
done behind
the scenes and
until we have
2 Summer TOD & DVD Specials:
all that data, communicate it
to our membership and then
have meetings between the auto
council - which is Chrysler
[Stellantis], Ford and GM bargaining
committee members
- I'm not sure we're going to
come out expressing that we're
moving in a particular direction, "
Chiodo said.
The union, he said, is reviewing
the " many demands that
are out there ... and [doing] the
research and paperwork to validate
what our best approach is,
and then we'll go through our
process. "
Chiodo, who sits on the master
bargaining committee representing
automaker employees,
said workers at all Unifor plants
have had an
opportunity to
express their
demands as
the union prepares
for bargaining.
Union
officials
are
Chiodo:
Unifor is
researching
profit-sharing,
but " I'm not
sure we're
going to
come out
expressing
that we're
moving in
a particular
direction. "
FILE PHOTO
also seeking
improvements
in pensions,
benefits, working
conditions,
job security
and future
investment.
" I'm sure
there will be
some part of
a comparison
to show how
we've benefited
as compared
to what profit-sharing provides, "
Chiodo said. " We make
more hourly wage than what
they make in the United States,
so there's a lot of things that will
be considered. "
Stellantis spokeswoman
LouAnn Gosselin said it is too
early to comment on whether
the company would discuss profit-sharing
agreements during
bargaining.
Representatives for Ford and
GM did not respond to a request
for comment by Automotive
News Canada. - ANC
SC 13120
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Much of ABC's new business is gravitating
toward EVs. During its fiscal first quarter
of 2023, the company said it won business
on five EV programs from four automakers,
representing 75 per cent of ABC's
new contract wins over the period.
Campbell also sees battery cells as a
potential growth area for ABC.
" We think that's a market we can
serve, " he said. " We have advanced technologies,
and we can be very competitive
in that space. " - ANC
ABC Technologies Holdings closed
a plant in Poland, sold a 50-per-cent
interest in four joint-venture plants, laid
off about 150 workers and reorganized
six operating units into three. It also
made several acquisitions to expand its
product offerings. SUPPLIED PHOTO
major international acquisitions ABC completed
last year.
In March 2022, it closed deals to buy
Ohio-based dlhBOWLES Inc., for $255 million
and Germany-based plastic-components
maker Karl Etzel for $95 million.
The addition of dlhBOWLES, best
known for its fluid-management systems,
firms up the company's footing in that area
as well as several other segments, ABC
said in a statement at the time, while the
purchase of Karl Etzel was geared toward
expanding in Europe.
NEW BIZ FROM EV TRANSITION
One of dlhBOWLES' other areas of
expertise, Campbell said, is thermal-management
systems for batteries. That provides
one avenue for growth as ABC and
the wider automotive industry transition
to EVs.
ABC'S EVOLVING
OWNERSHIP
* July 2016: ABC Technologies
Holdings Inc. is acquired by the
private equity company Cerberus
Capital Management.
* February 2021: Cerberus launches
a public offering, listing ABC on the
Toronto Stock Exchange while maintaining
partial ownership.
* June 2021: The private equity firm
Apollo Global Management Inc. buys
a 51-per-cent stake in ABC. Cerberus
remains a partial owner.
* November 2021: The asset management
company Oaktree Capital
Management buys Cerberus' remaining
stake in ABC.
* Currently: A portion of ABC's shares
remain publicly traded, though Apollo
owns 65.1 per cent of the company
and Oaktree owns 28.3 per cent.
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Automotive News Canada - April 2023

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