The U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, has determined that SNR Roulements S.A. (France) is, for purposes of U.S. trade, the direct successor to SNR Roulements S.A. prior to its acquisition by NTN Corporation (Japan).

The Federal Register entry is here :

74 FR 60242 : in re A-427-801 : 5251R9N7
Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France:
Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review

NTN, following a difficult acquisition plan that has played out in stages, recently crossed the 50% threshold and now owns a 51% ownership stake in SNR Roulements.

This decision by the ITA is important to both companies because there is an antidumping duty order in place on ball bearings and parts from France.

Commerce's successor-in-interest determination is based on a number of criteria; among them are changes in management, production facilities, supplier relationships, and/or customer base.

While it says no single factor or combination of factors will necessarily be decisive in determining the successor-in-interest, Commerce will usually consider the new company as the successor, "if the new company's resulting operation is not materially dissimilar to that of its predecessor."

In making its decision that SNR under NTN is essentially the same company as it was prior to NTN's acquisition, Commerce cited SNR's ability to demonstrate there were no changes in corporate structure or product mix, and only minor changes in management, production facilities, supplier base, or customer base. In addition, NTN told Commerce it does not plan any significant changes to the pre-acquisition SNR production facilities, management personnel, sources of supply, and customer bases. Following the acquisition, NTN has made only minor changes to SNR's production capacity.

Of particular interest to the bearing industry, NTN told Commerce it intends to maintain, market, and promote the NTN and SNR brands separately in all markets and for all applications.