NEW YORK — Alcoa has completed the divestiture of its wire harness and electrical distribution business to Platinum Equity, the California-based private equity group that also recently announced an agreement to acquire certain assets of Delphi Corp.
The wire harness and electrical distribution business is the largest part of the Alcoa Electrical and Electronic Solutions business, which the company announced was for sale in January. Terms of the divestiture were not disclosed.
The divestiture of the Electrical and Electronic Solutions business is part of a multi-pronged effort to focus on businesses where Alcoa brings strong technical and parental advantage. The effort will provide better focus of resources on strategic businesses, improve financial performance and establish a strong foundation for growth.
The wire harness and electrical distribution business has operations in 13 countries around the world and employs approximately 17,500 people. With the transaction, Alcoa now employs approximately 63,000 employees in 31 countries across the world. Alcoa expects to record a loss in discontinued operations in the second quarter of 2009 in connection with the closing of the transaction.
Alcoa is continuing discussions with multiple parties on the sale of the remainder of the Electrical and Electronics business, which consists of the electronics portion of the operation. That business has approximately 500 employees in three European countries.
