Plastic Omnium SA agreed to acquire AMS-Osram AG’s automotive lighting division for 65 million euros ($72 million), a move that will bolster the French company’s expansion into new market categories.
According to a statement Friday, the firms expect the acquisition to completion in the third quarter of 2022 and declined to comment further on integration preparations. Bloomberg News previously reported that the corporations were in the final stages of negotiations on a merger.
“The acquisition of AMLS is a once-in-a-generation chance to significantly expand our presence in the booming innovative lighting systems area,” Plastic Omnium CEO Laurent Favre stated.
Automotive lighting was once a division of Osram Licht AG, which was acquired by AMS in 2020. Bloomberg News reported at the time that AMS, a major provider of facial recognition technology to Apple Inc., was planning to sell its automotive division, which manufactures headlamps and systems for automobile manufacturers.
Plastic Omnium is an automotive body module and fuel system manufacturer. It was one of the bidders for Hella GmbH, a German vehicle components company, last year. Hella was subsequently acquired for 6.8 billion euros by French business Faurecia SE.
Plastic Omnium, headquartered in Levallois, France, is ranked No. 25 on Automotive News’ list of the top 100 global suppliers, with projected global sales to automakers of $9.5 billion in 2020.