BLOOMFIELD HILLS — The diversified manufacturer TriMas Corp. (Nasdaq: TRS) sadi Monday it planned to spin off its Cequent businesses into a new, publicly traded company.
Cequent designs, manufactures and distributes towing, trailer and cargo management products and other accessories.
The company said the transaction is expected to be completed during mid-2015.
The Cequent businesses generated revenue of $613.6 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 30. TriMas’ other businesses generated revenue of $855.1 million in the same period.
Mark Zeffiro, currently executive vice president and CFO of TriMas, has been named president and CEO of Cequent upon completion of the transaction.
“Over the past five years, we have transformed TriMas from a leveraged holding company into a diversified, global manufacturer of engineered and applied products with a track record of consistent growth and operating results,” said TriMas president and CEO Dave Wathen. “We have delivered improved financial performance by expanding customer markets and product lines, integrating accretive acquisitions, introducing new capabilities for our customers around the world, and instilling a culture of continuous improvement. We believe the spin-off will provide both companies greater flexibility to focus on their distinct growth and margin improvement strategies within their respective core markets, enabling them to further improve competitiveness and create significant value for shareholders, customers and employees. Following the separation, each company will be able to better allocate resources to meet the needs of their respective businesses, pursue distinct capital allocation strategies, intensify focus on growth and margin improvement priorities, and provide a clearer investment thesis to attract a long-term investor base best-suited to each company.”
The new stand-alone Cequent company will consist of TriMas’ current Cequent Americas and Cequent APEA businesses. It serves original equipment and aftermarket cusotmers in the agricultural, automotive, construction livestock, industrial, marine, military, recreational, tariler and utility markets.
The new TriMas, meanwhile, is expected to have a higher growth and profit margin profile than the current company. It will consist of the current packaging, aerospace, energy and engineered components business segments.
A replay of the conference call discussing the transaction is available at www.trimascorp.com or by dialing (888) 203-1112 and using replay code 1180560.