ZF Revives Talks with Bosch to Unblock TRW Bid

ZF Friedrichshafen has relaunched talks with Robert Bosch in an effort to revive its bid to acquire TRW Automotive Holdings, Bloomberg News reports.

At issue is a 50:50 ZF-Bosch joint venture that makes steering systems, which compete with TRW's steering gear products.

ZF wants to sell its share in the 15-year-old alliance to avoid antitrust issues and to help fund its TRW bid. But the venture currently prohibits each company from competing in the steering gear market if it dissolves the partnership.

Bloomberg sources say ZF and TRW have already agreed on the general terms of a merger and discussed a price range of $105-$110 per TRW share.