Magna is a positive giant in the business, employing 133,000 people at 316 manufacturing sites and 87 offices located throughout 29 countries around the world – of which its Canadian home base in Aurora, Ontario, is just one. One of its better known operations is Magna Steyr, the contract manufacturer in Graz, Austria, that builds the RCZ for Peugeot, the Countryman and Paceman for Mini (for now), the G-Class for Mercedes, and will soon handle another line for Jaguar Land Rover and additional assembly of the 5 Series for BMW.

Getrag, meanwhile, is one of the leading transmission manufacturers, offering an array of manual, sequential, automatic, dual-clutch, and hybrid units to automakers including BMW, Daimler, Renault, and Volvo. It has joint ventures with Ford and with Chinese automakers Jiangling and Dongfeng. All told, the company counts some 13,500 employees, making it about a tenth of Magna's size (by headcount alone).

The deal announced today will see Magna take over 100 percent equity in Getrag. The latter is valued at about €2.45 billion (around $2.7b at current exchange rates), minus €700 million ($760m) in debt and liabilities. As a result, the actual acquisition will cost Magna €1.75 billion ($1.9m). Pending regulatory approval, the deal is slated to close towards the end of this year.