Germany’s ElringKlinger has acquired US automotive supplier M&W Manufacturing Co., Michigan, thereby significantly expanding its market position as a supplier of spacer plates for automatic transmissions – in North America and worldwide.

ElringKlinger AG has acquired all interests in the US company M&W Manufacturing Co from the former owner family of the business.

The acquisition of M&W is seen as an important milestone in the expansion of ElringKlinger's Specialty Gaskets division, which generated sales of approximately euro 200 million (Rs 1,528 crore) in 2014. The division primarily develops and produces turbocharger gaskets, high temperature gaskets and components for exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and exhaust systems as well as control plates for automatic and dual-clutch transmissions.

The latest acquisition will allow the division to underpin its regional presence in North America and its production activities in the US market. Together with US market leader M&W, ElringKlinger has advanced to become the premier supplier of transmission spacer plates. In addition to supplying the North American market, M&W has started to increasingly serve the Chinese market from its US production site.

ElringKlinger says it will thus pursue opportunities in an additional field of structural growth. The market has seen significant growth in the proportion of high-performance automatic and dual-clutch transmissions, prompting more expansive demand in the coming years for key components such as control plates for transmission systems. As regards production and process technology, M&W's manufacturing activities in the field of transmission spacer plates complement ElringKlinger's screen printing and metal bead based technology. These technologies can be rolled out rapidly at production facilities operated by the ElringKlinger Group around the globe.