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Everchem Updates
VOLUME XXI
September 14, 2023
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February 4, 2020
- Plymouth-based seating supplier sells its premium brand
- Recaro now owned by Raven Acquisition, a Detroit-based investment corporation
- Adient has struggled financially since it was spun off from Johnson Controls in 2016
Plymouth-based Adient sold its Recaro unit.
Recaro is now owned by Raven Acquisition LLC, a privately owned, Detroit-based investment corporation, Recaro said in a statement. Raven is led by a former Recaro executive and TCE Enterprises, a family investment firm with experience in the auto industry, the release said.
The transaction was effective Jan. 1. Terms were not disclosed in the press release issued by Recaro.
Shortly after the spinoff, Adient acquired Recaro, which produces premium and specialty vehicle seats for automakers and the aftermarket.
For its 2019 fiscal year, Adient reported a net loss of $491 million compared with a loss of $1.7 billion in 2018. Adient CEO Doug DelGrosso has been working to get the company on track and focus on its core business since taking the helm in October 2018, with the goal of bringing the supplier to breakeven this year.
In its quarterly earnings presentation on Friday, Adient confirmed it divested Recaro.
Adient said on Friday that its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the quarter ending Dec. 31 improved to $297 million from $176 million in the year-ago period. Revenue was down 5 percent to $3.9 billion. Its net loss widened to $167 million from $17 million, impacted by one-time, noncash charges.
Recaro said the new corporate structure will help it concentrate on its main business of “performance seats, ergonomic seats, and special applications – with shorter and faster decision-making processes allowing greater flexibility to better meet the requirements of the market.”
Working capital and long-term financing are being provided to Recaro by Arctaris, a Boston-based investment firm, the release said.
Adient did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/automotive/adient-sells-premium-seating-unit-recaro
February 4, 2020
Adient sells premium seating unit Recaro
- Plymouth-based seating supplier sells its premium brand
- Recaro now owned by Raven Acquisition, a Detroit-based investment corporation
- Adient has struggled financially since it was spun off from Johnson Controls in 2016
Plymouth-based Adient sold its Recaro unit.
Recaro is now owned by Raven Acquisition LLC, a privately owned, Detroit-based investment corporation, Recaro said in a statement. Raven is led by a former Recaro executive and TCE Enterprises, a family investment firm with experience in the auto industry, the release said.
The transaction was effective Jan. 1. Terms were not disclosed in the press release issued by Recaro.
Shortly after the spinoff, Adient acquired Recaro, which produces premium and specialty vehicle seats for automakers and the aftermarket.
For its 2019 fiscal year, Adient reported a net loss of $491 million compared with a loss of $1.7 billion in 2018. Adient CEO Doug DelGrosso has been working to get the company on track and focus on its core business since taking the helm in October 2018, with the goal of bringing the supplier to breakeven this year.
In its quarterly earnings presentation on Friday, Adient confirmed it divested Recaro.
Adient said on Friday that its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the quarter ending Dec. 31 improved to $297 million from $176 million in the year-ago period. Revenue was down 5 percent to $3.9 billion. Its net loss widened to $167 million from $17 million, impacted by one-time, noncash charges.
Recaro said the new corporate structure will help it concentrate on its main business of “performance seats, ergonomic seats, and special applications – with shorter and faster decision-making processes allowing greater flexibility to better meet the requirements of the market.”
Working capital and long-term financing are being provided to Recaro by Arctaris, a Boston-based investment firm, the release said.
Adient did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/automotive/adient-sells-premium-seating-unit-recaro
February 3, 2020
US Manufacturing Sector Surges Back to Growth in January
A surge of new orders and jump in production pushed activity in the U.S manufacturing sector higher than expected in January.
The Institute for Supply Management said on Monday that its index of factory activity rose to a reading of 50.9 last month, the highest level since July. December’s figure was revised up to 47.8 from 47.2
This was the first reading above 50, indicating an expansion in the sector, in five months. Economists had forecast the contraction to continue with a reading of 48.7.
The ISM’s new orders gauge, which is a predictor of future activity, jumped to a reading of 52.0 last month, the highest since May. The production index registered 54.3 percent, up 9.5 percentage points from December. New export orders returned to expansion. The gauge for employment remains in contraction but improved from a month prior.
An economist for the Institute for Supply Management said that January’s 50.9 reading historically corresponds to 2.4 percent annualized real GDP growth, which would represent an acceleration from last year’s 2.3 percent growth.
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/02/03/us-manufacturing-sector-surges-back-to-growth-in-january/
February 3, 2020
US Manufacturing Sector Surges Back to Growth in January
A surge of new orders and jump in production pushed activity in the U.S manufacturing sector higher than expected in January.
The Institute for Supply Management said on Monday that its index of factory activity rose to a reading of 50.9 last month, the highest level since July. December’s figure was revised up to 47.8 from 47.2
This was the first reading above 50, indicating an expansion in the sector, in five months. Economists had forecast the contraction to continue with a reading of 48.7.
The ISM’s new orders gauge, which is a predictor of future activity, jumped to a reading of 52.0 last month, the highest since May. The production index registered 54.3 percent, up 9.5 percentage points from December. New export orders returned to expansion. The gauge for employment remains in contraction but improved from a month prior.
An economist for the Institute for Supply Management said that January’s 50.9 reading historically corresponds to 2.4 percent annualized real GDP growth, which would represent an acceleration from last year’s 2.3 percent growth.
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/02/03/us-manufacturing-sector-surges-back-to-growth-in-january/
February 3, 2020
Innocor adding 90 jobs, second production line in Baldwyn
BALDWYN • The nearly $5 billion bedding industry has gotten a boost in recent years with the introduction of memory foam and other innovative products driving the industry.
Among the leaders is Innocor, which opened a facility in 2004 in Baldwyn. It was a leader in the “mattress in a box” concept, which has exploded in popularity.
While privately held, D&B Hoovers estimates annual revenue for Innocor to be around $850 million.
On Tuesday, company leaders, joined by state and local officials, announced that the Baldwyn facility was about to wrap up a $4.1 million project that is adding a second production line and 90 more workers.
Proclaiming the news was Gov. Tate Reeves, fresh from his state of the state address on Monday. It was his first economic development announcement in Northeast Mississippi as governor, but not his last, he said.
“Mississippi businesses, like Innocor, are at the core of our state’s growing economy,” Reeves said. “We are proud to work with and support businesses like theirs as they expand and add new jobs to Mississippi’s workforce. This expansion creates opportunities for those 90 people as well as their families to achieve more and thrive.”
Innocor, which makes polyurethane foam for mattresses, pillows and mattress toppers, and which is found in bedding, furniture and automotive industries, relocated another production line in what was its distribution center to accommodate the expansion.
“We’ve been running seven days a week on our current line, and once we get the second production line going and have everyone trained, we’ll be going to seven days a week on that line as well,” said Innocor plant manager Kevin Lindsey.
The addition of the new employees, which is all but complete, will raise the total employment at the plant to about 550.
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Red Bank, New Jersey, Innocor was formed through the 2014 acquisition of Flexible Foam Products Inc. and its integration with Sleep Innovations. The company has 22 manufacturing plants and distribution centers throughout the U.S., but officials selected the Baldwyn facility.
“Innocor could have chosen any other state, but it chose Mississippi,” Reeves said, touting the workers who stood nearby as the announcement was made.
The Mississippi Development Authority provided a $650,000 grant to help with building and infrastructure improvements and equipment installation. Lee County and the city of Baldwyn will provide property tax exemptions.
Innocor was acquired in 2017 by private equity Bain Capital for an undisclosed sum. Lindsey thanked Bain for its investment in the plant, which was recognized as the company’s plant of the year in 2015.
“The Baldwyn facility has established itself as a world-class manufacturer of bedding products,” he said. “We pride ourselves as a flagship facility within Innocor and the bedding manufacturing space in general.
“This expansion was not a ‘build it and they will come’ plan; this is a direct result of the vision, focus and support of (Innocor President and CEO) Bill Redmond and Bain Capital and the execution of all of our employees.”
Innocor plans to produce some 221 million board feet of foam this year – a distance that stretches from Jackson, Mississippi to Amarillo, Texas.
https://www.djournal.com/news/business/innocor-adding-jobs-second-production-line-in-baldwyn/article_951fd35b-b8dd-5458-815f-84f8018e1dd1.html
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