Federal Mogul

History

The company was founded in Detroit in 1899 by J. Howard Muzzy and Edward F. Lyon as the Muzzy Lyon Company. Muzzy and Lyon went into business together producing mill supplies and rubber goods. In addition, the partners formed a subsidiary called Mogul Metal Company where they launched various bearing innovations. To fit consumer needs, the pair began producing bearings made from their own Babbitt metal called "Mogul", an alloy of tin, antimony and copper. The product was trademarked under “Mogul” and “Duro”. In addition to Babbitt metal, Muzzy and Lyon were also known for inventing the process of custom die-casting bearings to suit proper size and shape.

The Muzzy Lyon Company bearings business proved successful in the early 1900s and became the pair's main concern, with Buick as one of their earliest customers. The Muzzy Lyon Company later merged with an engine bearings and bushings manufacturing company, Federal Bearings and Bushings Corporation. Federal Bearings & Bushings Co. was founded in 1915 by a group of Detroit businessmen. The company initially consisted of Mogul Metal, and Federal and Bower Roller Bearing Co. but later merged in 1924 to form Federal-Mogul-Bower Bearings, Inc. The combined company manufactured bronze bearings, a product the Muzzy Lyon Company did not supply. To solidify their success, the entire Muzzy Lyon Company merged with Federal Bearings and Bushing in 1924 to become Federal-Mogul Corporation.

The group established a research division with the help of Battelle Memorial Institute in 1929. During the depression, Federal-Mogul Corp. invested in the Equi-Poise propeller division. The company's continued advancements in the propeller industry were recognized in 1941, when Federal-Mogul was named the world’s largest manufacturer of motorboat propellers.

In 1932, the company developed a new alloy called C-100, the first new bearing material since the discovery of Babbitt metal. The Federal-Mogul Corp. research team revamped the C-100 in 1934 to create a C-50 alloy.

In 1955, the company acquired National Motor Bearing Company, resulting in a company name change to Federal-Mogul Bower. In addition to acquiring another company, Federal-Mogul Bower was listed as #350 on the Fortune 500, with total sales of $100 million the following year. To further Federal-Mogul Bower expansion, the company opened business operations in Switzerland. Shortly after, the company opened established their first overseas service center in Antwerp, Belgium in 1962. Continuing the expansion of products, Federal-Mogul Bower’s Arrowhead division began to manufacture components for NASA’s Saturn launch vehicle in 1963. In April 1965, the company was renamed Federal-Mogul Corporation following a merger with Sterling Aluminum Products.

In 1966, Federal-Mogul Corporation relocated from downtown Detroit, establishing its corporate headquarters in Southfield, Michigan.

In 1981, Federal-Mogul Arrowhead parts were implemented in the NASA space shuttle launch. That same year, the company won a claim in the Supreme Court to patent a process for curing rubber based on the mathematical equation written by Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius in 1889. The US Patent Office had initially rejected Federal-Mogul's claim on the basis that neither a formula, as a law of nature, nor a computer program based on such a formula, could be patented.

In 1998, the company acquired Cooper Industries and brands including Anco wiper blades, Champion ignition, MOOG chassis, Wagner and Abex friction, and Wagner and Blazer lighting. That same year, Federal-Mogul also acquired Turner & Newall, a building materials company based in Manchester, UK. Turner & Newall was one of the world's largest manufacturers of asbestos-related products, including those made with blue crocidolite asbestos mined in South Africa. Turner & Newall was responsible for the Armley asbestos disaster in Leeds, UK. After the acquisition, Federal-Mogul set aside approximately $2.1 billion to cover asbestos-related claims but that amount provide insufficient. The large number of products liability claims that came with this acquisition were largely responsible for Federal-Mogul's federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2002.

During the company’s restructuring, Federal-Mogul Corporation acquired multiple companies including Robert G. Evans Co., Hanauer Machine Works, Inc., Metaltec, Inc., Mather Co. and Fel-Pro, Inc. The company emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization in January 2008 and in April 2008, the company listed Class A common stock on NASDAQ under the trading symbol FDML.

In June 2010, Federal-Mogul expanded further into Asia by opening a headquarters and technical center in Shanghai, China. The Asia Pacific headquarters and technical center facility contains powertrain dynamometers and vehicle braking test cells among other processes. The location allows for increased technical support to powertrain and vehicle customers as well as technology development.

Federal-Mogul acquired Daros Group in June 2010, a privately owned supplier of pistons for large bore engines used in industrial energy generation and commercial shipping. The acquisition of the group included operations in China, Sweden and Germany. The purchase of Daros added two-stroke and four-stroke piston ring products to Federal-Mogul’s portfolio of industrial piston rings.

In December 2010 Barcelona (Spain) warehouse was shut down and moved to Madrid.

In March 2012, Federal-Mogul’s board of directors announced its decision to modify the company’s corporate structure to create separate Powertrain and Vehicle Components segments, each with its own CEO. Rainer Jueckstock, former senior vice president of the company's Powertrain Energy business, was named CEO for the Powertrain segment effective April 1, 2012. In February 2014, Daniel A. Ninivaggi was appointed CEO of the Federal-Mogul Vehicle Components segment (VCS).

In July 2012, Federal-Mogul announced a definitive agreement to purchase the BERU spark-plug business from BorgWarner Inc.

In September 2014, the company formally announced the long pending modification to the company's corporate structure would be a split into two separate companies, Federal-Mogul Powertrain, and Federal-Mogul Motorparts. The Powertrain division will focus on the manufacturing and selling of OEM auto parts while the Motorparts division focuses on selling aftermarket parts. Each individual company has their own CEO and corporate level staff that will continue to report to the board of directors of Federal-Mogul Holding Corporation. The company expects the split to be completed in the first half of 2015 pending regulatory approval.

In 2014, Honeywell completed the $155 million sale of its friction materials business to Federal Mogul Corp.

Automotive News PACE Awards

Federal-Mogul has received a total of 16 Automotive News PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contributions to Excellence) Awards, honoring the company's technological advances, for which citations can be found on the official PACE Awards web site The Automotive News PACE Awards recognize superior innovation, technological advancement and business performance among automotive suppliers. This prestigious award is recognized around the world as the industry benchmark for innovation.

Federal-Mogul products that have received PACE Awards include:

Restatements

On Aug 18, 1997, Federal-Mogul Corporation restated the previously issued 1996, 1995 and 1994 financial statements for certain charges recorded in 1996. The restatement does not affect the company's balance sheet at December 31, 1996.