• Tenneco Inc. will buy a majority stake in suspension specialist Öhlins Racing A.B.

• Öhlins founder Kenth Öhlin will remain with the company.

• The deal will be finalized in 2019.

Tenneco Inc. will own a majority stake in premier suspension specialist Öhlins Racing A.B.

While many of us may not be familiar with Tenneco’s name, the American company owned the Marzocchi suspension brand. Tenneco shut down Marzocchi in 2015 before selling it to VRM, an Italian automotive company.

The deal is worth $160 million (RM669 million). The minority stake will remain with founder Kenth Öhlin. Industry observers consider the amount a premium. However, Teneco aims to lead the suspension industry, no doubt through Öhlins’s research and development in electronically controlled and semi-active suspension (CES).

Brian Kesseler, co-CEO of Tenneco said, “Öhlins’ technology team will allow us to rapidly grow our product offerings for current and future customers, as well as help us win a larger share of business in developing mobility markets.” He also added that the Öhlins team plays an important part of the new Aftermarket and Ride Performance company.

Öhlins currently employs 340 personnel in its R&D sit in Sweden. They have branches and subsidiaries worldwide are in Thailand, Sweden, Germany, USA. Öhlins practically holds a monopoly in the motorcycle road-racing scene, thereby etching the into road riders’ psyche. (Öhlins supplies suspension systems for cars, also.)

We expect the acquisition to close in the first quarter of 2019. Kenth Öhlin will continue to provide strategic and technological vision to the company, however.