Teijin Frontier Co., Ltd., the Teijin Group’s fiber and products converting company, announced that it has agreed to acquire J.H. Ziegler GmbH (Ziegler), a leading supplier of automotive interior materials in Germany, at a cost of approximately €125 million. Ziegler will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teijin Frontier.

The acquisition of Ziegler will be made by means of cash and newly-raised funding, and is scheduled to be completed in August 2018 after confirmation that all customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval, have been met.

Since its establishment in 1864, Ziegler has innovated advanced technologies in the fields of nonwoven seat wadding materials and sound-absorbing composite solutions. Ziegler’s technologies fulfill the most stringent requirements in terms of the appearance, haptic feedback and usability of seat surface materials. Headquartered in Achern-Oberachern, Germany, Ziegler provides advanced nonwoven lining structures, including materials with superior ventilation capabilities that help prevent wrinkling and keep luxurious appearance of genuine leather materials. The company also produces market-leading top-quality sound-absorbing materials and nonwovens for home interior and heat insulation use. The company operates five facilities globally, including three in Germany and one each in Hungary and China, and employs approximately 400 staff. It posted consolidated sales of over €69 million in the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017.

Through the acquisition of Ziegler, Teijin Frontier will improve its automotive interior materials’ production and sales capabilities in Europe, thereby enhancing its presence in the global automotive market and allowing it to increase its enterprise value. To drive the sales of Ziegler products that can meet the growing demand for low-noise electric vehicles (EV) driving environments, Teijin Frontier plans to optimize Ziegler’s design and production structures. By utilizing its R&D and production functions of filaments and staple fibers, Teijin Frontier will develop innovative materials that realizes higher sound-absorbing property, using its ultra-fine fibers. Teijin Frontier will also seek business synergies by leveraging the production and sales facility of Continental Structural Plastics, a North American hub of the Teijin Group’s composite business and Ziegler’s sales channels in order to develop new businesses related to automotive interiors and exteriors.

Teijin Frontier integrated Teijin Limited’s polyester fibers businesses in April 2017 and has been strengthening its development capabilities through the establishment of an extremely reliable supply chain integrating R&D and raw material and fiber productions with existing textile-processing and sewn-products supply functions, both for apparel and for industrial applications. For industrial applications, Teijin Frontier strengthens its business in automotive-related field as one of its core businesses and provides a number of trusted high-end solutions for automobiles, including high-performance interior materials such as seat fabrics, car roof linings and sound-absorbing surfaces, as well as rubber reinforcement materials such as tire cord, hose cord, transmission belt cords and airbag base fabrics.

The automotive industry has been radically evolving over recent years with developments such as EV, autonomous cars and car sharing. These developments and the emergence of ever-tighter environmental regulations are driving demand for comfortable and low-noise high-performance automotive indoor environments. Teijin Frontier is expanding its product and sales capabilities in the field of noise-reducing materials by enhancing these with further sound-absorbing, low-noise and sound-insulating functions, all of which will help to realize more comfortable driving.