Cooper Buys Majority Share of Chinese Manufacturer

(Akron/Tire Review) Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire 51 per cent ownership in Shandong Chengshan Tire Company Ltd. (Chengshan) of Shandong, China, and will partner with that company to create Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Passenger Tire Co. Ltd. and Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Truck Tire Company Ltd. Cooper said the total investment in the acquisition would be approximately $70 million.

The agreement is subject to government and regulatory approvals in China, and should be approved by the end of this year, said Cooper. The agreement also includes a 25 per cent ownership position for Cooper in the steel cord factory, located adjacent to the tire manufacturing facility in Rongchen City.

“This is another major step in our Asian strategy,” said Thomas Dattilo, Cooper’s chairman, president and CEO. “Chengshan is an excellent and profitable Chinese manufacturer that is already selling a significant number of tyres around the world, and especially in China where Cooper has plans to have a leading market share position in the future.”

Chengshan is the third largest Chinese-owned tire manufacturer with expected replacement, OE and export sales in 2005 of approximately $500 million. The company makes passenger and light truck radials, as well as radial and bias commercial tyres primarily under the Chengshan and Austone brands.