Takata closes the sale of all its business to the American KSS

The Japanese manufacturer of airbag Takata, declared bankrupt by the scandal of its defective devices, has closed the sale of all its operations to the American company Key Safety Systems (KSS), a spokesman confirmed to Efe today.

Tokyo, Nov 22 (EFE) .- The Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata, declared bankrupt by the scandal of its defective devices, has closed the sale of all its operations to the company US Safety Key Systems (KSS), a spokesman confirmed today.

Takata and KSS have sealed the terms of the operation that was already advanced at the end of last June, when the The Japanese company filed for bankruptcy in the United States to benefit from the rules of protection against creditors in this country.

The Tokyo-based company will sell all of its assets. assets and operations for 1,580 million dollars, 1,345 million euros, in an operation that will be completed during the first quarter of 2018, a spokesperson told Efe Same.

Takata will continue to produce the devices that must be replaced in millions of cars around the world, and will keep a part of its manufacturing and sales production. airbag inflators until the end of the process.

The president and CEO of Takata, Shigehisa Takada, stressed the importance of the sale to "continue to provide a stable supply "of their products, to keep their employees and for the joint venture" to position itself for long-term success in the global automotive industry ", in a statement.

The company has applied for legal protection in a Tokyo court, as well as in the United States for its subsidiary TK Holdings, and has embarked on a restructuring process under the guardianship of KSS.

Takata faces payment obligations of 380,000 million yen, 3,043 million euros or 3,409 million dollars, although it estimates that its real debt will triple that amount to include the cost of the call to review of more than 42 million vehicles worldwide due to their defective air bags.

The manufacturing defect detected in the devices can cause it to open too strongly and project fragments to the occupants, which has been linked to at least a fortnight of deaths in several countries and affects vehicles of 19 manufacturers around the world.

Founded as a textile company in 1933, Takata began manufacturing airbags in 1987 and became one of the world leaders in the sector; It has 56 plants in 20 countries and approximately 46,000 employees.

Key Safety Systems, meanwhile, is a Michigan-based automotive components supplier and owner of China's Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp, and has a global network of 13,000 employees.