Linamar closes on battery enclosure business

Linamar Corp. completed the acquisition of three of Dura Shiloh’s battery enclosures facilities. The acquisition was announced May 30 and had been subject to customary regulatory approval and other closing conditions. Those pre-closing hurdles have now all been finalized, and the transaction has closed as of August 3. The deal was worth a total of $325 million in all-cash.

The three sites, previously owned by Dura-Shiloh, are located in Alabama, North Macedonia and Czechia and now join the newly formed Linamar Structures Operating Group. According to Linamar, each site manufactures batteries enclosures for battery electric vehicle (BEV) applications.

“We are excited to complete this acquisition, a further step forward in Linamar’s transition towards an Electrified Mobility world, bolstering our growing Structures & Chassis business portfolio,” said Linda Hasenfratz, Linamar Executive Chair and CEO.

The deal is expected to accelerate Linamar’s strategy toward a more electrified product portfolio with increased future BEV content. The company currently has several battery tray and

Linamar has acquired three battery enclosure factories from Dura Shiloh, including this operation in Alabama. (Illustration: Dura Shiloh)

enclosures programs in production both in North America and Europe. Linamar’s current designs include cast aluminum as well as welded fabricated aluminum assemblies. The acquisition of Dura Shiloh’s battery enclosures business will add to that bringing multi-material (high strength steel and composite) designs with precision bonding into the product range.

Linamar said the newest facility in Muscle Shoals, Ala., is a state-of-the-art battery enclosure operation that it will be able to showcase to other OEM customers in order to win future business.

“As we recently highlighted with our announcement of a new giga casting plant under construction in Welland, Ontario, we are creating a significant Structures & Chassis business that is focused on both electrification as well as propulsion agnostic opportunities. This latest announcement of acquiring Dura Shiloh’s battery enclosures business is another milestone achieved in that strategy,” said Hasenfratz.”