As a result, the Plymouth site in the UK was sold instead of closing the plant as originally proposed: The Barden Corporation Ltd. was sold to HQW Holding Co. Limited, a UK subsidiary of HQW Precision GmbH. HQW Precision, headquartered in Kürnach, Germany, is a premium supplier of high-precision ball bearings and assemblies. The Plymouth plant will continue to operate without significant changes for customers, suppliers and employees.

Schaeffler had originally proposed closing two of three plants in the UK and relocating production as well as consolidating two logistics centers at one location. The closure of the Llanelli plant was confirmed following the consultation phase in January this year. The merger of the two logistics centers, which was scheduled for July 2019, is still going according to plan.

Under the terms of the agreement, the buyer will use the Barden brand worldwide with the exception of the Americas. In the Americas, the Barden brand will continue to be used exclusively by Schaeffler. The Plymouth facility currently produces primarily spindle bearings and machine parts for Schaeffler's industrial division as well as high precision bearings for the aerospace and defense sectors. Barden UK will continue to supply the Schaeffler Group.

Schaeffler takes over Xtronic

Schaeffler AG, through its subsidiary Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, entered into a purchase agreement on May 3, 2019 for the acquisition of Xtronic GmbH, headquartered in Böblingen. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The acquisition is expected to be completed in June 2019 once all closing conditions have been met.

As a technology partner, Xtronic develops customized software and electronics solutions for the international automotive industry. © Xtronic

As a technology partner, Xtronic develops customer-specific software and electronics solutions for the international automotive industry. The medium-sized, owner-managed company employs around 170 people at its sites in Böblingen and Wolfsburg. The service portfolio includes applications in the field of automated driving and electromobility through to functional safety as well as methods, tools and test systems. The company was founded 20 years ago and developed the "Space Drive" drive-by-wire system in close cooperation with Paravan. The company has customer relationships with well-known automotive manufacturers and suppliers.

Xtronic will be integrated into the Schaeffler Group as an independent GmbH. Daniel Schmid, Managing Director and one of the previous shareholders of Xtronic , will continue to manage the company operationally. The focus will continue to be on external customer relationships and on developing and offering solutions within the Schaeffler Group.

New appointments to the Supervisory Board of Schaeffler AG

Annual General Meeting of Schaeffler AG 2019 in the Frankenhalle in Nuremberg. © Schaeffler

At the Annual General Meeting at the end of April, the ten shareholder representatives on the Supervisory Board of Schaeffler AG were elected as scheduled. The election confirmed eight Supervisory Board members in office. The following were re-elected: Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann, Georg F. W. Schaeffler, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Jörg Bullinger, Dr. Holger Engelmann, Prof. Dr. Bernd Gottschalk, Robin Stalker, Prof. KR Ing. Siegfried Wolf and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tong Zhang. Sabine Bendiek and Sabrina Soussan were newly elected to the Supervisory Board.

Ms. Sabine Bendiek is the Chairwoman of the Management Board of Microsoft Deutschland GmbH. She has many years of experience in the fields of digitalization, IT and artificial intelligence. Ms. Sabrina Soussan is CEO of Siemens Mobility GmbH and also heads the Siemens Rolling Stock Business Unit. Siemens Mobility offers innovative solutions for rail and road transportation and connected mobility worldwide. "We are very pleased that with Ms. Bendiek and Ms. Soussan we were able to win two top managers with a strong technology background for the Supervisory Board of Schaeffler AG. Their knowledge and experience will noticeably strengthen the Board, especially with regard to digitalization and technology," said Georg F. W. Schaeffler, Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

Annual forecast confirmed

Klaus Rosenfeld, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors, and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Georg F. W. Schaeffler (right) at the Annual General Meeting of Schaeffler AG. © Schaeffler

Schaeffler also recently published its quarterly figures for the first three months of 2019. The Group generated revenue of approximately 3.6 billion euros in the first quarter of 2019. Adjusted for currency effects, revenue increased by 0.4 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. While the revenue development of the two Automotive divisions declined slightly on a currency-adjusted basis - Automotive OEM minus 1.7% and Automotive Aftermarket minus 1.1% - the revenue growth of the Industrial division offset or slightly overcompensated this decline by 6.9% on a currency-adjusted basis.

The Schaeffler Group confirms its forecast for 2019 and expects revenue growth of 1 to 3 percent at constant currency, an EBIT margin before special items of 8 to 9 percent and free cash flow before cash inflows and outflows for M&A activities of around 400 million euros.