Visteon in Talks to Shed Stake in Climate Control Venture

Visteon Corp. confirms it is in discussions to sell its 70% stake in South Korea-based Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp. to Korean private equity firm Hahn & Co.

The Korean Economic Daily estimates the deal is worth $3.6 billion. HVCC, which Visteon describes as the world's second-largest supplier of thermal management systems, operates 35 factories in 19 countries.

Visteon consolidated its own climate control unit with the Halla venture in January 2013. At the time, CEO Tim Leuliette said Visteon had no intention of selling off its climate control operations. Four months ago Halla acquired the thermal and emissions product lines of Cooper Standard Automotive Inc. for $46 million.

Bloomberg News reported in September that Visteon's board was studying a plan to split the company in two, forming separate electronics and climate control systems companies. The news service noted that a second option would be to retain the electronics operations and sell the climate control business.