Dayco

Mark IV Industries aims to hit the mark; its ammo includes engineered components and systems used in the automotive, industrial, and transportation industries. Business units include Air Intake & Cooling and Power Transmission for automotive and transportation applications. The company designs and manufactures timing belts, as well as air intake and water cooling components and air and water ducts. Mark IV sells to OEMs and aftermarket parts suppliers in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. It divested its Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems and Luminator Technology units in 2010.

In mid-2009 Mark IV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and emerged six months later. It is held by its creditors. The company's exit trimmed $750 million in debt, as well as secured a financing agreement totaling $195 million. The plan for reorganization gives secured lenders a more than 80% stake (formerly owned by Sun Capital Partners) in the reinvented company.

Regaining its financial footing, Mark IV looks to use the infusion to continue its development of green, fuel-efficient engine management systems along with its lineup of intelligent transportation systems. The company is banking on a technical center, completed in Michigan in October 2009, to spur development of engine synchronous and accessory drive components and systems for light and heavy duty vehicles.

Mark IV's emergence from bankruptcy brought about a restructuring of its operations. In late 2010 the company's Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS) unit, which designs and manufactures short-range communication devices for roadways and is a major supplier of electronic toll collection (ETC) equipment in North America, was taken over by Austria-based Kapsch TrafficCom, a developer of ETC systems, for approximately €50 million (about $70 million). IVHS projects have included the E-ZPass system for 25 toll authorities dotting 14 states in the northeastern US, and the world's first non-stop, all-electronic toll road spanning Canada's Highway 407 Express Toll Route.

Not long after agreeing to sell its IVHS unit, the company announced that its Luminator Technology Group is being acquired by Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, an equity firm based in Los Angeles. Luminator Technology provides information systems and LED display and lighting products for commercial and military aircraft applications.

Tapping demand in developing markets also tops Mark IV's growth agenda; the company's largest unit, Power Transmission (Dayco Products), is ramping up production capacity for automotive heavy-duty rubber belts through a tie-up with a China-based belting business. Two other joint ventures are opening up two factories in India. 

Prior to seeking bankruptcy relief, Mark IV shouldered approximately $1.2 billion in debt amidst the North American automotive industry's worst downturn in decades. Eroded demand coupled with anxious creditors, caused Mark IV's overall capital structure to teeter. Mark IV joined a long list of auto parts manufacturers operating in Chapter 11, lead by US major carmakers Chrysler and General Motors. Operations outside the US were excluded from the Chapter 11 reorganization, as were Mark IV's IVHS operations.

Europe continues to be the company's largest market, accounting for more than 60% of total sales. In 2010, Europe represented 78% of air intake sales and 56% of sales for the power transmission unit.