Antitrust Authorities Give Green Light to Conti Oltas Acquisition

After the approval of the Turkish antitrust authorities in late August Continental AG has acquired 89.66 per cent of the shares in Oltas SPA headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey. Oltas is Continental’s exclusive tyre distributor for the Continental, Uniroyal and Barum passenger car and commercial vehicle tyre brands in Turkey.

“We are glad about this quick approval process. Now we will improve our market position for commercial vehicle and passenger car tyres in Turkey and in Eastern Europe overall significantly step by step,” said Dr. Alan Hippe, Executive Board member responsible for the Passenger Car Tire division.

Turkey is considered by Continental to be one of the European growth markets for the next few years and is also one of the biggest markets for commercial vehicle tires in Europe. Oltas SPA achieved sales of some 39 million euros in 2007 with a workforce of 65. Today, it has a franchise dealer network with more than 200 shops, and plans are afoot to expand this further.