Exit of Visteon CEO Sparks Sale Rumors

Visteon Corp. says Don Stebbins has resigned as its president, CEO and chairman.

The board has appointed Visteon director Tim Leuliette to assume Stebbins' former titles while it seeks a permanent president and CEO. No mention was made of a permanent chairman. Leuliette's career has included stints as CEO or chief operating officer of such suppliers as Dura Automotive, Metaldyne and Penske Corp.

The company offered no explanation for Stebbins' unexpected departure. But Visteon shares rose 8% to close at $42.01 on Monday as investors speculated that his exit clears the way for the company to be broken up.

Stebbins had been shepherding Visteon through a restructuring that has caused a rift in its board. Several directors reportedly want the company to sell all its assets.

Last year Stebbins abruptly did an about-face from "aggressively" seeking acquisitions to bolster all four of Visteon's product groups to a new plan to shed its low-margin lighting and interiors units, then focus on electronics and climate control systems. He has sold the company's lighting unit and headquarters and aims to complete the sale of Visteon's stake in a U.K.-based interiors joint venture later this month.

But an attempt to sell the majority of the company's global interiors unit to a Chinese joint venture collapsed in July.

Visteon's $805 million hostile bid to buy out the minority shareholders of South Korea's Halla Climate Control Corp. also fell apart last month. Korea's Mando Corp. reached a deal last week to buy a blocking stake of as much as 8.1% of Halla. Analysts opine that Mando might seek to buy the U.S. supplier's 70% Halla holding, Visteon's climate control business or even the whole company.

Visteon's financial results have weakened. Revenue fell 18% to $1.7 billion in the quarter ended June 30. Operating earnings tumbled 26% to $203 million.

The company's board also named two new outside directors: Francis Scricco, a retired senior executive of communications provider Avaya; and David Treadwell is former CEO of EaglePicher. The move expands the board's size from seven members to eight.