The Budd Company, Troy, Michigan, USA, a subsidiary of Thyssen Krupp Automotive AG, Bochum, has acquired Stahl Specialty Company (SSC), Kingsville. SSC is a leading North American aluminum foundry with facilities in Kingsville and Warrenburg, Missouri. Founded in 1946, the company generated sales of around Euro 130 million in 1999 and currently has approx. 1,000 employees.

With sales of some Euro 850 million, Waupaca Foundry is one of the biggest foundries in the USA and a leading manufacturer of castings for the transport, agricultural, construction and other industries. The acquisition of SSC will bring the overall workforce at Waupaca to over 4,000 employees and provide access to aluminum technology. Waupaca will also gain additional expertise in the machining of castings, an activity of increasing strategic importance for North American foundries.

The Budd Company produces automotive components such as doors, fenders, roofs, hoods and decklids in sheet metal as well as in sheet molded composite (SMC), and gray iron and ductile iron castings for around 100 current vehicle models. Budd also makes prototypes, chassis frames and subframes, bumpers and bumper reinforcements, cold weather starting and heating products, and airbag components for the automotive industry. Budd operates 39 facilities with more than 13,000 employees in North America and achieved sales of around Euro 2,300 million in 1998/99.

The Budd Company is part of Thyssen Krupp Automotive AG, Bochum, a systems partner and full-service supplier to the automobile industry organized in the four business units Body, Chassis, Powertrain and Systems/Suspensions. On September 30, 1999 ThyssenKrupp Automotive had 37,594 employees and generated sales in fiscal 1998/99 of Euro 5,208 million.