Lear Corporation

On April 5, 2004, Lear announced it would pay $220 million for Wuppertal, Germany-based Grote & Hartmann, a maker of electrical components.[8] On July 6, 2004, Lear announced it had completed the transaction.[9]

As of late 2005, most OEM auto companies had indicated that they no longer wanted to purchase total interiors from any one company. As this was Lear's primary purpose in assembling those three divisions, and the Interior Systems Division was not profitable, the company began seeking to get rid of this division.

In early 2007, Lear Corporation completed the transfer of substantially all of its former North American Interior Systems Division to International Automotive Components Group (IAC), a joint venture of Lear, WL Ross & Co., and Franklin Mutual Advisers. The deal involved 26 manufacturing plants and two Chinese joint ventures. Lear also contributed $27 million in cash for a 25 percent interest in IAC and warrants for an additional 7 percent.[10]

Also in 2007, Lear's board of directors agreed to a $2.3 billion takeover offer from American Real Estate Partners, an affiliate of financier Carl Icahn, subject to shareholder approval. Lear has said it will continue to talk to other interested parties, however, Icahn would receive a $100 million fee should another offer be accepted. The deal was later voted down by shareholders.

On July 2, 2009 Bloomberg News reported that Lear Corp. planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after reaching an agreement with representatives of secured lenders and bondholders.[11] On November 9, 2009, Lear announced it had emerged from bankruptcy.[12]

On August 10, 2011, Lear announced that senior vice president and chief financial officer Matt Simoncini had been elected chief executive officer and president, effective September 1, 2011.[13]

In 2012, Automotive News awarded Lear a Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contribution to Excellence (PACE) Award for innovation, technological advancement and business performance for its Solid State Smart Junction Box (S3JB), noting Lear's "S3JB junction box has 1) integrated solid state fuse technology to eliminate relays, 2) created a new package that no longer has to be accessible from the driver compartment which decreases nuisance calls and lowers electrical device warranty returns, 3) created and installed a smart software logic with detailed diagnostics to permit a 'fail safe operation,' and 4) designed a single state board design with patented thermal aspects that permits multiple system and device connections and various configurations to ease manufacturing processes."[14]

Lear acquired automotive and specialty fabrics company Guilford Mills for $257 million in May 2012. In addition to automotive fabric applications, Guilford produces fabrics for markets including water filtration, window covering, performance apparel, medical and other industrial applications.[15]

In August 2014, it was announced that Lear Corp would acquire automotive leather supplier Eagle Ottawa LLC for a fee of $850 million.[16]

In May 2015 the company announced that it would open a new automotive plant in Gostivar, Republic of North Macedonia, in the summer of 2015. This was to be Lear's first facility in North Macedonia.[17]

In August 2015 the company acquired the intellectual property and engineering team of Autonet Mobile. Autonet Mobile was a developer of connected car solutions using cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth and cloud connected solutions.[18]

In November 2015 the company acquired Arada Systems. Arada Systems was a technology company specializing in vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2V and V2I, together V2X) communication systems. They developed hardware and software for V2X utilizing their expertise in 5.9 GHz dedicated short range communication (DSRC) and other wired and wireless technologies such as CAN and GPS.[19]

In February 2017 it was announced that Lear Corp signed a definitive agreement to acquire Grupo Antolin's automotive seating business. The transaction was valued at €286 million on a cash and debt free basis. Lear Corp funded the transaction with cash on hand.[20]

Lear held a backer for the Jaguar Racing Team in the 2001 Formula One World Championship and also now in the Formula E Competition.

In November 2022, it was announced Lear had acquired the Novi-based supplier of Industry 4.0 technologies and automated testing equipment used in the production of automotive seats, InTouch Automation.[21]