Visteon Moves Closer to Sale of Unit to Korean Subsidiary

Visteon Corp. has reached a final agreement to sell most of its automotive climate-control business to its South Korean affiliate, Halla Climate Control Corp., thus consolidating all its operations in that sector.

HCCC, which is 70% owned by Visteon, is buying the parent company's climate-control operations in China, India, France, the Netherlands, Mexico and the U.S. The sale price totals at least 410 billion won ($387 million) in cash, says Bloomberg News, citing a flurry of regulator filings.

Visteon disclosed the preliminary deal in September. The sale remains on schedule to close during the current quarter, the company says.

Visteon was unsuccessful in its attempt last year to acquire the remaining 30% of HCCC. The American supplier had intended to merge Halla's assets with its own climate-control business to cut costs, lure new customers and attain economies of scale.

By selling its assets to HCCC instead, Visteon achieve those goals, although it will own only 70% of the business.