Linamar

Linamar Corporation
Company type	Public
Traded as	TSX: LNR ; S&P/TSX Composite Component
Industry	Automotive, Manufacturing of high precision machined and assembled components
Founded	August 17, 1966, by Frank Hasenfratz as Linamar Machine Limited in Ariss, Ontario
Headquarters	Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Key people	Frank Hasenfratz - Founder ; Linda Hasenfratz - CEO & Chairman
Number of employees	27,000 worldwide (2019)
Website	www.linamar.com

Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR) is a manufacturing company serving the mobility, access, agriculture, and MedTech industries.^[2]^[3] The company has three operating segments: Industrial, Mobility and eLIN.

Its Industrial segment includes Skyjack, MacDon, and Salford, which manufacture aerial work platform equipment, agricultural harvesting equipment, and farm tillage and crop fertilizer applicator equipment respectively. The Mobility segment, divided regionally into North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, produces components and systems for both traditional and electrified vehicles — including powertrains, body and chassis, driveline, engine, and transmission systems.

The recently formed eLIN Product Solutions Group specializes in electrification, while McLaren Engineering provides design, development, and testing services. Linamar MedTech, the company's medical group, focuses on manufacturing medical devices and precision medical components. Linamar has 26,550 employees in 65 manufacturing locations, 14 R&D centres and 28 sales offices in 17 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia, which generated sales of $6.5 billion in 2021. It is Canada's second-largest automobile parts manufacturer (after Magna International). Based in Guelph, Ontario, the company's various operations employ more than 29,000 persons worldwide in a total of 60 manufacturing plants, 8 R&D centers and 25 sales offices in 17 countries located in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Total sales in 2018 were $7.6 billion.^[4]

History[edit]

Linamar was founded in 1966 by the Hungarian refugee Ferenc^[5] (Frank) Hasenfratz^[6] who escaped from his country during the Russian crackdown precipitated by the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He had attended technical schools in Hungary and had been employed as a toolmaker. According to Forbes, he started the small operation in his basement in 1964^[7] in Ariss, Ontario.^[8] The company, with a staff of five, was incorporated in 1966 as Linamar Machine Limited, named after his two daughters, Linda and Nancy and his late wife Margaret.^[9] Linamar's first major contract was to manufacture automotive oil pumps for Ford.^[10]

Hasenfratz (1935–2022) was the Chairman while the current CEO is Linda Hasenfratz; the company is headquartered in Guelph, Ontario.^[11]

Linamar is a major factor in the economy of Southern Ontario, Canada. As a result, the federal government agreed to provide $50.7 million in a repayable loan to Linamar through its Automotive Innovation Fund and the province pledged up to $50.25 million in a one-time grant in January 2015. That funding, plus an internal investment of $400 million (by the company) was intended for expansion that was expected to create 1,200 jobs in Guelph, Ontario by 2025. (Over 8000 people were employed by Linamar in that city at the time.)^[12]

An early 2018 announcement indicated that the company would receive additional funding from the federal and provincial governments, up to $101 million, for expansion that would create 1500 additional jobs and maintain 8,000 others.^[13]^[14] CEO Linda Hasenfratz who is one of the members of the federal NAFTA advisory panel,^[13] told the news media that the funding would enable the expansion of its parts for conventional, hybrid, battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles.^[15] At that time, the company employed 9,000 individuals in Canada, most in Guelph. The number of manufacturing plants in Ontario totaled, with all but one in Guelph.^[14] "We plan to continue to invest in this evolving factory of the future in many different ways with a focus on areas such as vision systems, collaborative advanced robotics, incorporating sensors into our products, and collecting that data to help us improve product design," she added.^[16] A federal government press release indicated that some of the funding would support artificial intelligence, three-dimensional printing and clean technology.^[13] The provincial government's release stated that the funding would enable the company to build next-generation transmissions and drive trains, high-efficiency engine parts and develop technologies for electric and connected vehicles and would also help create an innovation centre for R&D on artificial intelligence, machine learning, collaborative robotics and other technology.^[17] The company planned up to $500 million over the long term investing in high-tech programs such as artificial intelligence.^[18]

In September 2023, Linamar acquired the propulsion-agnostic business from Mobex for $70 million.^[19]

On December 21, 2023, Linamar agreed to purchase Saskatchewan's Bourgault Industries, a family-based agricultural equipment manufacturer, for $640 million.^[20]