Goodyear ending Sumitomo alliance due to “anti-competitive” behaviour

At the tail-end of Goodyear’s full-year 2013 results conference call, Laura Thompson (executive vice-president and CFO) appeared to suggest that the key reason Goodyear has opted to end its global alliance with Sumitomo is because the Japanese firm has engaged in alleged “anti-competitive” behaviour: “Sumitomo has engaged in anti-competitive conduct in relation to anti-trust laws and we think that warrants a dissolution of the partnership. On January 10 we began arbitration to dissolve the partnership.” As a result the American company could be poised to buy out Sumitomo’s joint venture shares.