Hayes Lemmerz Considers Selling Chattanooga, Tenn. Plant

From Chattanooga Times/Free Press

CHATTANOOGA, TENN — Hayes Lemmerz International is entertaining offers for its Chattanooga, Tenn., plant but will continue production if it doesn’t sell, a company official said Monday.

“If we look at this and see it’s not benefiting our shareholders, we’ll say, ‘Thanks but no thanks,’ and continue on as normal,” said Marika Diamond, a spokeswoman for the Michigan-based maker of truck wheels and related parts.

Hayes Lemmerz bought the former Wheland Automotive Industries Centrifuse plant after the latter company went bankrupt in 2001 and shut down in early 2002. The plant, which produces drums, is part of Hayes’ Commercial Highway Hub and Brake Drum business.

Diamond, who was in Chattanooga Monday, said the division isn’t one of Hayes’ core businesses. She said it “shows good profitability” for the company, but declined to be more specific.

In its quarterly financial report, released Friday, Hayes posted sales of nearly $1.7 billion, but a net loss of $22.2 million, for the first nine months of its fiscal year, which ended Oct. 31. The company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2003.

Because the Commercial Hub and Drum business is doing well, Diamond said, it’s attracted the attention of several potential buyers.

“We have an obligation to determine if a sale would maximize value and be in the best interest of our shareholders,” said Diamond, who also declined to name any of the potential buyers.

“Whoever buys the facility will invest more in it because it will potentially be their core business, so we feel it’s a great opportunity for all,” she said.

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