Delphi Automotive has completed the sale of its thermal business for a cash sum of around $727 million (£465.8 million).

The Gillingham-based group, which supplies technologies for the automotive and commercial-vehicle markets, first announced the deal on 19 February. The thermal division had revenues of about $1.6 billion in 2014, with about 7,500 staff and 13 plants world-wide. It has been acquired by Mahle Behr GmbH & Co and certain of its affiliates.

Delphi chief executive Kevin Clark said: “The sale of our wholly owned thermal business to Mahle is a great outcome for all involved. Mahle is a world leader in providing automotive thermal systems and will now be positioned to provide even more value to its customers.

“For Delphi, this transaction strategically positions us to focus on the high-growth sectors of power-train, electronics and safety, and electronic architecture.”

Delphi has technical centres, manufacturing sites and customer-support operations in 33 countries.