Released on July 22, 2011

KSM Castings Group, Hildesheim, Germany, has been sold to China’s Citic Dicastal Wheel Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Qin Huangdao City, China.

In 2005, KSM was purchased by private equity firm Cognetas, Frankfurt, Germany, from ThyssenKrupp AG, Essen, Germany. KSM serves the global light metal castings industry and has a customer base consisting of automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers such as Volkswagen Group, Daimler, Benteler, Bosch, ZF and TRW. The metalcaster focuses primarily on chassis and powertrain applications components and has four production sites in Germany, one in the Czech Republic and one in Northern China. Cognetas reports KSM’s revenue increased by 39% to $580 million in the fiscal year ending March 2011.

Citic Dicastal is a manufacturer and supplier of cast aluminum alloy wheels for the automotive industry. The company reports it had greater 2010 revenues than any other company in its market segment. Citic Dicastal is a 100% subsidiary of Citic Group, one of the largest state-owned conglomerates in China.

“This investment is an important step for Citic Dicastal towards expanding into the businesses of chassis, powertrain and auto body, as well as broadening the technological capabilities in the group,” said Zuo Xu, president of Citic Dicastal. “We aim to establish KSM as a global player and are prepared to support KSM’s strategy with additional investments. We see the current management and employees of KSM as crucial for the company’s continued success.”

According to Cognetas, the transaction is subject to approval by the Chinese government and the relevant regulators and is expected to close in the second half of 2011.