FINDLAY, Nev., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. in Findlay, Ohio, Friday agreed to sell its automotive parts business to a New York group for about $1.17 billion.
The group is Cypress Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.
Cooper is the world's seventh-largest tire manufacturer, and had $3.51 billion in sales last year.
Cooper Tire said in March that it was exploring the possible sale of the unit. Several weeks ago, the company said it hoped to find a buyer by the end of this month. Analysts had expected a sale of the parts business to bring in $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion.
Cypress Group is a New York private-equity group that manages two private- equity funds. Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is a unit of financial-services firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which is also based in New York.
The transaction is expected to close by year-end and is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals.
