Starco establishes presence in Africa

The Starco Group reports it has established a new entity in South Africa. The Danish-based company shares that a partnership agreement was signed in July with Mac & Tirecity – a major South African distributor that operates three strategically-located distribution centres in the region.

“We have been looking at the growing South African market for some time,” said Starco regional director Bob Cooper. “And instead of starting a new African operation from nothing, we sought a partnership agreement with an existing wheels and tyre distributor, whose established position in the market could give a better platform for the creation of a Starco entity in South Africa.”

According to Starco’s group marketing manager Brian Lorentzen, Mac & Tirecity – also known as MTC – is an ideal partner for Starco. “Their existing product range and customer base aligns closely with the Starco global strategy, with a focus on the industrial and agricultural aftermarket segments – an alignment that will be able to draw on existing Starco manufacturing operations, giving us the capability to design and manufacture products specially for the South African market.”

MTC is essentially a distributor and a partnership with Starco gives the company access to the wider Starco product range and the organisation’s design, manufacturing and logistics expertise. Along with the supplying the Starco range, Mac & Tirecity will continue the close relationships it has with current suppliers; Starco says the combination of the old and new business connections will give MTC’s customer base “even better service and reliability.”

The process of integrating the existing MTC organisation into Starco’s operations is said to be well under way, and it is planned that MTC will be a fully-fledged member of the Starco Group by the end of July – giving the company an important bridgehead into the African market.

MTC managing director Calie Stassen expresses optimism about the agreement with Starco. “The marriage between our companies will give immediate benefits to our existing customers in South Africa, not least a wider product range and a higher level of service. This will give us the platform for growth and to reach new customers in the market.”