Tower International LLC is a global designer and producer of structural components and assemblies used by virtually every major automotive vehicle manufacturer. The company's main products include body structural stampings

Stamping (metalworking)

Stamping includes a variety of sheet-metal forming manufacturing processes, such as punching using a machine press or stamping press, blanking, embossing, bending, flanging, and coining. This could be a single stage operation where every stroke of the press produce the desired form on the sheet...

 and assemblies,
chassis

Chassis

A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...

 structural stampings and assemblies, including full frames and cradles, suspension components, modules and systems and exposed sheet metal

Sheet metal

Sheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat pieces. It is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and can be cut and bent into a variety of different shapes. Countless everyday objects are constructed of the material...

 ("Class A") surfaces.

In 2007 the company generated revenues of $2.2 billion. The company currently has 39 facilities in 13 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Tower Automotive is headquartered in Livonia, Michigan

Livonia, Michigan

Livonia is a city in the northwest part of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Livonia is a very large suburb with an array of traditional neighborhoods connected to the metropolitan area by freeways. The population was 96,942 at the 2010 census, making it Michigan's 9th largest...

, United States. In the Automotive News global supplier ranking for 2006 the company ranked on the 55th position.

The company was founded in 1993 as R.J. Tower Corporation, later renamed Tower Automotive. During the 1990s Tower Automotive grew fast with multiple acquisitions in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. Tower Automotive, Inc. (a U.S. registered company) and its U.S. operating subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in February 2005. In July 2007 Tower Automotive successfully emerged from Chapter 11 as an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management

Cerberus Capital Management

Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the United States. The firm is based in New York City, and run by -year-old financier Steve Feinberg. Former U.S...

, L.P, which purchased the company for $1 billion.

In October 2010, the company issued an initial public offering

Initial public offering

An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...

, intended to raise up to $122 million in order to pay off part of Tower's $654 million in debt.