Takata Calls for Takeover Bids

Takata Corp. has asked would-be financial saviors to submit bids this week to take control of the struggling airbag supplier, sources tell Bloomberg News. Reuters reported the same timetable a week ago.

Takata aims to narrow the field to two or three finalists in October. The company has been in talks with its carmaker customers since February about its share of the cost of replacing roughly 100 million faulty airbag inflators that could explode when triggered by a crash.

Among the reported bidders are private equity firms Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and KKR, along with such airbag makers as Daicel and Key Safety Systems. Takata's share price had plummeted 

Bloomberg’s sources say some proposals are likely to suggest a bankruptcy to limit liability. But Takata indicated five months ago it would prefer to sell a majority stake to an investor that could manage the crisis without resorting to bankruptcy.