NTN Corp. (Japan; 51% owner of SNR) announced it will make Annecy, France the center of European Research and Development for the combined NTN-SNR operations. Naohiko Fujimara, head of NTN Europe, and Didier de Conde, CEO of SNR, made the joint announcement.

While Annecy was the most obvious choice, it is also where the most vehement protests against Japanese ownership originated.

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Formerly a division of state-owned Renault, SNR is gradually being acquired by NTN. It began with 33% ownership in 2006, progressed to 51%, and will by 80% by 2010.

In addition to the Annecy announcement, NTN said it will invest at least €13.5 million (USD $19 million) at SNR's high-precision bearing factory in Argonay, France. Argonay is dedicated to producing bearings for aircraft and aerospace applications. Adding considerable weight to the Argonay announcement, NTN President Suzuki went to and toured the operations there.

Argonay's expansion is already underway and is expected to be complete by 2011. Finished, it will have expanded the manufacturing floorspace, added machinery and equipment, and added approximately 60 jobs. The decision to target Argonay is a key indicator of where NTN expects to take SNR -- currently, aircraft and aerospace account for only 5% of SNR's sales. Automotive is over 60%, and industrial is around 30%.

NTN has said it wants to leverage the SNR relationship, as NTN-SNR, to double its European market share for bearings after it acquires 80% ownership in 2010.

In order to meet that aggressive goal, NTN is targeting high-value and emerging industries across Europe. It is currently hampered by more than half of SNR's bearing sales being dependent upon the slumping auto industry.

But rail bearings, machine tool bearings, electronics, and in particular, bearings for wind energy turbine applications, will be ramped up in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. SNR's low-margin, high-volume bearings will continue to be manufactured largely in Romania.

article: NTN completes SNR investment strategy
article: NTN boosts SNR ownership to 51%