Covpress owner expands UK presence with £30m acquisition

THE Chinese owner of Coventry-based metal pressings company, Covpress has strengthened its position on the automotive supply chain with the acquisition of components manufacturer, UYT in a deal approaching £30m.

UYT, which is based in Canley and employs around 400 people, supplies parts to Honda. It will now become part of the Yongtai Group.

The deal creates a business with a combined workforce of 1,200 and there are plans to increase this with a further 100 over the next two years.

Kit Halliday, joint Covpress European CEO, said: This is tremendous news for everyone – Yongtai Group, UYT and all the people who work here.

“The Yongtai investment means UYT’s facility will continue to support the Honda UK manufacturing operation. UYT is almost exclusively Honda but this expansion in Canley will enable us to continue to meet other car manufacturers’ increasing demands.”

Xiaoming You, president of the Yongtai Group, said he hoped the government would welcome the investment, both in terms of supporting a key industry and generating new jobs.

“In less than two years of Chinese ownership our business here will have expanded from 430 jobs to over 1,000 – and our success story will continue to increase the order books,” he said.

Global law firm Squire Patton Boggs advised Yongtai Group on the deal, with its team led by corporate partner Edward Dawes and Nina Martyres.

The Industrial Products team at Transcend Corporate, led by director Ian Curtis, also advised Yongtai Group on the deal.

It was no easy transaction, with the dealmakers having to negotiate with the various parties in three countries.

Curtis said: “The UYT assembly facility is a significant addition to the Yongtai presswork and assembly capabilities in Coventry, and a fine complement to the Covpress facility acquired in 2013.”

UYT was established in 1996 as a result of a joint venture between Japanese and British manufacturers. It supplies Body-in-White components and sunroof assemblies.