FAIRLAWN, Ohio—With the purchase of Veyance Technologies Inc. completed, ContiTech A.G. is moving quickly to establish itself in North America.
Heinz-Gerhard Wente, a member of the executive board of parent Continental A.G. and CEO of the ContiTech business, said Veyance's complex in Fairlawn will become ContiTech's North American headquarters. ContiTech also named Charles Seymour, previously Veyance vice president and general manager for North America, as CEO of the firm's combined North American operation and the head of its conveyor belting business in the region.
Veyance CEO John Hamilton is leaving the business of his own choice, Wente said, adding that Hamilton let ContiTech know of his decision early in the process.
Hanover, Germany-based ContiTech and its parent Continental A.G. finalized the $1.58 billion purchase of Veyance on Jan. 29 from private equity firm Carlyle Group. The proposed acquisition was announced last February but couldn't be finalized until it received antitrust and regulatory approval from a number of different nations.
Discussing the merged companies during a news conference Feb. 3, Wente and Seymour said the Veyance name will be replaced by ContiTech, although it will retain the name Veyance for some legal purposes.
With the completion of the deal, ContiTech will no longer be able to use the Goodyear Engineered Products brand name, licensed to Veyance by Goodyear, a competitor of Continental. Seymour said ContiTech can still produce Goodyear-brand products for 30 days but must liquidate its entire inventory within six months. Going forward, the products will all bear the ContiTech brand.
ContiTech also must sell its air springs plant in Mexico and a steel cord business in Brazil.
The two firms currently combine for roughly $6.3 billion in annual sales, cementing ContiTech's position as the world's top non-tire rubber products manufacturer. The combined work force of the two firms was about 38,000 in 2013, according to ContiTech.