The Commission has approved the proposed transaction whereby Foxconn EV intends to acquire ZF Chassis Modules, with conditions. The primary acquiring firm, Foxconn EV, is a company incorporated in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Singapore. The Acquiring Group only controls a single firm incorporated in South Africa, namely JUSDA South Africa Supply Chain Management Proprietary Limited.

The Acquiring Group provides electronics manufacturing services in the following product segments: Smart consumer electronics, cloud and networking, computing and electronic components, amongst others.

The primary target firm, ZF Chassis Modules, is a company incorporated in accordance with the laws of Germany. ZF Chassis Modules will comprise the axle systems assembly business unit of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a company incorporated in accordance with the laws of Germany.

ZF Chassis Modules assembles axle systems, including corner modules, for passenger vehicles for original equipment manufacturers.

ZF Lemförder SA, a subsidiary of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, is a well-established automotive supplier in South Africa and has been supplying BMW Group South Africa with axle sets since its foundation in 1998. ZF Lemförder SA’s plant in East London commenced production in 2019 of front and rear axles to supply Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA).

The Auto Industrial Group, which is now owned by a private equity firm and management, was previously owned by ZF Friedrichshafen AG. The Auto Industrial Group has two large foundries within the group and is still a supplier to ZF Friedrichshafen AG’s ZF Lemförder SA.

The Commission is of the view that the proposed transaction is unlikely to substantially lessen or prevent competition in any market. To address public interest concerns, the merging parties have agreed to an employment commitment and ZF SA will continue to contribute a pre-determined value amount on an annual basis to the various initiatives including contributing to skills development in the form of external bursaries to underprivileged individuals (including stipends); youth employment schemes; learnerships; disabled employee support; supplier development; enterprise development; and socio-economic development.