Takata Air Bag Bankruptcy: 5 Fast Facts About $1.59B Buyer Key Safety Systems

DETROIT, MI — A Sterling Heights, Michigan, manufacturing company will acquire majority ownership of global air bag manufacturer Takata, which filed for bankruptcy protection Monday in U.S. District Court in Detroit and Tokyo, Japan, Monday. Takata was unable to recover financially from the scandal over its defective air bag inflators, which are linked to at least 16 deaths and 180 injuries, touching off the largest automotive recall in U.S. history.

Key Safety Systems said in a statement that it is acquiring “substantially all” of Takata’s global assets and operations for $1.59 billion. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, like us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Here are five fast facts about the deal and about Key Safety Systems:

1. In a statement, Key Safety Systems said that combining the two operations would create a global safety supplier with approximately 60,000 employees in 23 countries. “Substantially all” Takata employees will be retained in the restructuring.

• Read More: Takata Done In By Air Bag Scandal, U.S., Japan Bankruptcy Filings Monday

2. KSS doesn’t plan to shut down any manufacturing facilities in Japan, expects to establish an Asia regional headquarters in Tokyo that will create new jobs in Japan, and and said it would honor existing contracts to maintain an uninterrupted supply chain.

3. Key Safety Systems was established in 1916 to serve Detroit automakers, and today has a global network of 13,000 employees in 32 sales, engineering and manufacturing facilities. It has five main technical centers in key regions of the Americas, Europe and Asia.

4. Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp. acquired Key Safety Systems for $920 million in 2016 as an independently operated subsidiary. Together, the two companies competed against industry giants, including world-leading air bag manufacturer Autoliv, to acquire Takata, the Detroit Free Press reported.

5. Key Safety and Ningbo Joyson Electronic have annual sales of $3 billion, excluding sales from the deal to acquire Takata.