Embattled airbag maker Takata Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan and said that it would seek $1.588 billion in financial aid from U.S.-based auto parts supplier Key Safety Systems, Reuters reported yesterday. The KSS deal would help it deal with the fallout from its defective airbag inflators at the centre of the global auto industry's biggest ever recall, the two companies said in a joint statement. The filing at the Tokyo District Court followed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in the United States. As part of the bankruptcy protection plans, KSS would acquire all of Takata's assets barring certain assets and operations related to the airbag inflators involved in the global recall in the planned deal worth $1.59 billion. Takata would keep operations of its affected inflators for now to continue supplying recall replacement parts, and would eventually wind down those operations, the two companies said in a statement.
