Both companies announced the MAHLE GmbH acquisition on Thursday and said the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.
German-based MAHLE GmbH took a majority ownership stake last year in the Behr Group, which owns a manufacturing plant on Webster Street. The local plant, once owned by Chrysler, has operated since the 1930s.
MAHLE Behr, which makes heating ventilation and air-conditioning products and parts for automobiles, has around 1,100 employees, according to Rob Baker, manager of the plant at 1600 Webster St.
As part of the deal, Mahle will acquire 13 Delphi plants in six countries, including the one located on Northwoods Boulevard in Vandalia. The plant manufactures thermal and HVAC products for vehicles.
The Vandalia plant, which has about 330 employees, is one of five U.S. Delphi facilities to continue operating through Delphi’s time in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, from October 2005 to October 2009.
Baker said he could not comment on what the sale means for the two plants, but added, “it’s a good opportunity for both plants.”
“It’s too early to talk about specific jobs or the plants,” Baker said.
The Mahle Behr plant has 1.1 million square feet of available space. Around 65 percent of that is now being used for manufacturing, Baker said. Slightly more than half of the 650,000 square feet of space at the Vandalia plant is being used for manufacturing, he said.
Clayton Brown, the Vandalia Delphi plant manager, could not be reached for comment.
In 2009, Delphi exited the safety products business, which employed about 140 people at the time also at the Northwoods plant. The auto-parts maker fully wound down that part of its business in Vandalia in January 2010.
The former General Motors Corp. spun off Delphi, its parts-making arm, in 1999. At the time, Delphi had about 15,000 Dayton-area employees. In recent years, Delphi closed plants in Dayton and Moraine, and leased part of a Kettering plant to parts producer Tenneco.
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