Cherry Corporation to join ZF Group

Hans-Georg Hrter, ZF's CEO and President, comments: "With ZF Electronics, we are reinforcing our competence profile in the fields of mechatronics and electronics. In particular, for our future tasks in driveline and chassis technology, we can swiftly apply Cherry's know-how."

Cherry was founded in 1953 and develops and manufactures switches, sensors, control units, and electronics modules for the automotive industry, components for industrial and household applications, and computer input devices (such as keyboards). Cherry's comprehensive know-how for electronics, software, mechatronics and plastics technology is, for example, currently incorporated in mechatronics modules, sensor systems, operating switches, selector lever modules, and keyless entry electronics.

The company employs approximately 3100 employees worldwide; half of the workforce is located in Germany, with headquarters in Auerbach, between Nuremberg and Bayreuth. For the rest of world, Cherry has approximately 900 employees in North America, 250 in Asia, and 400 in Eastern Europe. Total sales account for US$400million (EUR250million), with 65 per cent generated in Europe.

Peter Cherry, Chairman and President of Cherry, states: "This transaction has great strategic value, as it will allow Cherry to expand its current customer base and ZF will bring substantial additional resources for future growth in all of Cherry's product segments. There are many opportunities for incorporating Cherry's technologies into the broad range of ZF applications."