Toyoda Gosei acquires Chinese firm

Toyoda Gosei Co. is expanding its production for weatherstrips in China with the acquisition of Tianjin Star Light Rubber & Plastic Co.

Financial details were not disclosed. The firm will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyoda Gosei when the deal closes. TG said in an email this is projected to occur at the end of April.

"Toyoda Gosei decided to fully acquire Tianjin Star Light Rubber & Plastic Co. to strengthen our competitiveness and grow the business at Tianjin Star Light and our Chinese operations," a company spokeswoman said in an email. "TG is now enabled to make its own decisions, facilitate the introduction of technology from Japan, and effectively utilize the resources of Tianjin Star Light."

Toyoda Gosei described China as a "key market with promising growth for automobile production." The spokeswoman said Tianjin Star Light's products will be produced for the domestic Chinese market.

Tianjin Star Light was jointly owned with Kinugawa Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. and Starlight Rubber & Plastic Development. The firm employs 994 people with about $75 million in sales for 2017.

Its only manufacturing facility—located in Tianjin, China—spans about 462,800 square feet. It produces EPDM weatherstrips for opening trims/doors and thermoplastic vulcanizate weatherstrips for glass run systems to local original equipment manufacturers on a Tier 1 basis.

Tianjin Star Light's main customers include Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor, Changan Ford and Great Wall Motor.

"Toyoda Gosei has a large share of weatherstrips products globally," the spokeswoman said. "As the number of automobiles increases, our weatherstrips business grows accordingly."