When Traton made the purchase of Navistar official, he was not only controlling the International truck and bus brand. In the business, which was valued at $3,700 million dollars, there was also the Brazilian engine manufacturer MWM, since 2005 it belonged to Navistar.
It was also clear to the Traton Group, that having brands like Scania or MAN involved in the development of its engines, or in other cases using Cummins power plants and even FPT Industrial, there was not much point in keeping MWM within the giant's umbrella. German.
For this reason, the Brazilian Tupy, with more than 80 years of history, managed to close a Navistar agreement, to keep 100% of the assets and businesses of MWM, in an operation valued at 184.2 million dollars. This operation will allow the engine manufacturer to have independence and will no longer be under Traton's orbit. It should be noted that this transaction is pending approval by CADE (Administrative Council for Economic Defense of Brazil), which operates as an antitrust authority.
Founded by German immigrants who arrived in Brazil, Tupy has its main operations center in Joinville (State of Santa Catarina) and is dedicated to developing and producing structural components in cast iron with high geometric and metallurgical complexity. The company is present in various segments, such as cargo transportation (in all its modalities), infrastructure, agribusiness and power generation. It also builds 4, 5 and 6-cylinder engine blocks for both gasoline and diesel.
Tupy has factories not only in Joinville; also in Mauá (State of São Paulo) and Betim (State of Minas Gerais). Abroad, it has production facilities in the cities of Saltillo and Ramos Arizpe (Mexico) and Aveiro (Portugal). In addition, Tupy has offices in Brazil, the United States, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
This purchase will also allow Tupy to implement a business diversification strategy, aiming at decarbonization, with the production of less polluting engines, which MWM had already been starting. “The use of biogas and biomethane to generate electricity and as fuel for fleets of trucks, buses and agricultural tractors is the main way to decarbonize the national and export industries of proteins, dairy products, sugar and ethanol. The production of biogas in the country is inherent to the size of the Brazilian agribusiness. It will also be used, to a great extent, as fuel for the production of electrical energy in rural properties through electrical generators developed and manufactured by MWM”. Explained José Eduardo Luzzi, CEO of MWM.
Tupy representatives said they are evaluating their capital allocation strategy to fulfill the agreement and make the payment to Navistar, taking into account third-party financing in addition to their own resources. Payment will be made once approval is obtained from CADE.
“Together, MWM and Tupy become a unique company in the market, bringing together in a single supplier: foundry, machining, assembly, technical validation and associated engineering activities. We are going to join a company with great intellectual and technological capital, made up of experienced leaders, an entrepreneurial culture and high technical credibility in our industry. With the technical competence of this team, we will extend the services they offer to our current clients”, Tupy CEO Fernando Cestari de Rizzo said in the statement.
MWM has supplied engines to buses and trucks of brands such as Agrale, Volkswagen, Dodge and Volvo. Volare, the integral manufacturer of midibuses that belongs to Marcopolo, has also used them, as well as thousands of tractors sold mainly in Brazil and Argentina. The brand has produced more than 4.5 million powerplants in nearly 70 years of history.