Engine Bearing Maker Taiho Kogyo Acquiring Nippon Gasket

Taiho Kogyo Company (Japan) said it has reached a tentative agreement to acquire 41% ownership of Nippon Gasket Company (Japan). Taiho Kogyo, founded in 1944, is now a separately traded division of Toyota Motor Company (Japan). It is one of the world's largest manufacturers of plain bearings, although it did not start manufacturing plain bearings until 1961 when it established a technology-sharing joint venture with Federal-Mogul Corporation (USA). Since then, the company has grown to 17 manufacturing locations around the world, supplying all of the world's key automakers with all types of engine bearings, thrust bearings, thrust washers, various die cast products and gaskets. For example, Taiho currently has a 50% market share for plain engine bearings used in Japanese cars and motorcycles. Nippon Gasket Company Ltd., founded in 1947, manufactures NHK brand gaskets for automotive engine applications, and for applications in other types of motors and pumps. Nippon Gasket is also a key supplier to Toyota and other world auto manufacturers, the market paralleling Taiho Kogyo's. It operates five manufacturing locations, two of them in Japan, and others in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. Sales for the year ending March 31, 2003 were ¥4.5 billion ($40.9 million), with a profit of ¥193 million ($1.8 million). Since 2000, Taiho Kogyo has been increasing its involvement in the gasket business, citing its exceptional synergies with the engine bearing product lines. In 2000, the company formed a joint venture with Japan Metal Gasket Co. In 2002, it formed a U.S.-based joint venture with Federal-Mogul Corporation, TF Global Gasket LLC.