Honeywell’s Automotive Business Is on the Block

Continuing its plan of selling non-core operations, Honeywell International Inc. retained Salomon Smith Barney to help it find a buyer for its auto-related consumer products group, which includes a stable of filters, spark plugs, and other automotive products. A leader in automotive product R&D, Honeywell’s consumer products group is comprised of four well-established brands – Prestone, FRAM, Autolite, and Holts. Each of the brands is more than 60 years old. “As promised, we are moving swiftly to focus our resources and reconfigure our portfolio to maximize its potential, while increasing the value-creation capabilities of our strong core businesses,” said Honeywell’s chairman and CEO Michael R. Bonsignore in a printed statement. “With its leading brands, strong financial performance, world-class product development capabilities, and outstanding employees, we expect that the consumer products group will be very attractive to potential buyers with a long-term commitment to the automotive marketplace.” Prestone, a leading U.S. brand of antifreeze, also includes about 100 car care products, such as the Jump It!, a jump-starting product, and a line of fuel additives. FRAM is a leading brand of filters and Autolite is one of the country’s largest producers of spark plugs. Holt Lloyd is a leading aftermarket supplier of car washes and waxes in Europe and Asia. David E. Berges, president of the consumer products group, said in an interview, “This transaction will enable CPG’s great brands to work for a buyer who is eager to invest or expand in the huge consumable automotive aftermarket.” He said that he expects the business to be sold before the end of the year, but he declined to comment on potential buyers or how much the business is worth. Analysts widely have speculated that the business could easily fetch between $800 million and $900 million. Honeywell, based in Morris Township, N.J., wants to focus strictly on aerospace and industrial automation businesses, analysts have said. In addition to its consumer products group, other businesses that are considered non-core and could find their way onto the auction block are Honeywell’s performance polymers and specialty chemicals businesses and some of its power and transportation operations, all of which came with the merger of Honeywell Inc. and AlliedSignal Inc. last year.