Ferrari wheel supplier BBS sold

The Shiltach based German wheel manufacturer BBS has been saved from bankruptcy as it was bought by a Belgian company, motorauthority reports. Punch International NV will assume full ownership of BBS on August 1, including its brand name, manufacturing plants, inventory, patents, and the licensing contracts that the company currently holds. In July 2006 Punch already acquired the German transmission and automotive components group ZF.

BBS us currently still the supplier of Ferrari's F1 wheels and has previously been so for various other teams in different motorsport categories.

In January BBS issued a profits warning after posting a 3.8 million Euro ($4.9M US) loss in the first half of 2006 that was attributed to a sharp increase in the cost of aluminium. BBS tried to restructure its financing with a plan that included early payments from some of its larger customers but this was rejected by one of its creditor banks.

This latest deal is regarded as a success by most of BBS’ 1,200 odd staff, who were notified today of the latest development. With the takeover, BBS subsidiaries in Italy and the US will remain independent, while a proposed project in China is still under negotiation. Motor Authority