Sri Lanka-based airbag sensor maker to buy Japan parent

ECONOMYNEXT: Lanka Harness, a Sri Lanka-based precision technology company that makes airbag sensors and seat belts, plans to buyout its parent Ito Springs of Japan.
Managing Director Rohan Pallewatte told the Colombo-based Echelon business magazine the deal would be completed this year increasing its clout in the US and European markets. Ito Sprints is a supplier to top Japanese firms including Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Lanka Harness was set up in 2002, with a US $ 8 million investment by Ito Springs with 350 people making 350,000 sensors. It now makes two million supplying firms outside Japan, including Aston Martin, BMW, Fiat-Chrysler, Ford, Saab, Volkswagen and Volvo. “I built the non-Japanese business on my own,” Pallewatte was quoted as saying. “When I acquire the parent company, I can be more aggressive.
I will have the added advantage of negotiating from Japan, home to several giants in the industry and heading a company that has been a tier-one supplier for decades.

 Imagine what I could achieve.”
The deal will tightly integrate the firm with the supply chain of Japanese automakers who rely on so-called tier-one suppliers for on-time delivery.