Sun-TWS acquires STARCO Lanka operation

The solid tyre factory established by STARCO in Sri Lanka has been divested to TVS Group company Sun Tyre & Wheel Systems (Sun-TWS) for an undisclosed sum. The STARCO Lanka facility becomes Sun-TWS’ fifth manufacturing plant and, together with expansion programmes at its existing facilities, will help increase overall capacity by 40 per cent – a measure required in order to meet growing global demand.

The agreement was signed 27 May 2018. SUN-TWS will soon take over the entire STARCO Lanka operation, including the facilities, equipment and employees. The new owners will continue to produce STARCO Tusker, Unicorn, Gecko and Makhna ranges to the same specification, whilst at the same time adding additional volumes into the factory and boosting competitiveness.

According to STARCO, customers will experience no change; products and sales and distribution activities will remain as today. It adds that Sun-TWS has become a “key strategic partner” of the STARCO solid tyre range and that both parties are committed to grow STARCO’s Industrial Segment and to become an even stronger partner for the original equipment manufacturers and key aftermarket distributors.

“We see great potential to develop a partnership with Sun-TWS, immediately for our industrial segment, but also for other segments. We will maintain sales and distribution of our solid tyre ranges as the market knows it today,” states Richard Todd, chief executive officer at STARCO. He continues: “I would like to thank our Sri Lankan employees for all their hard work and look forward to maintaining our strong relationship in the future.”

Joseph Fernando, president of Sun-TWS, commented: “The key to the continued success of Sun-TWS is its unique business model, a passion for reliability and consistency, unrivalled customer service and an enduring loyalty to its clients; making SUN-TWS the preferred partner for forklift and tyre distributors around the globe. This is an exciting opportunity that will bring anticipated synergy to our manufacturing facilities.”

STARCO Lanka was set up in 2011 to produce solid industrial tyres, becoming an important partner for the original equipment manufacturers and key aftermarket distributors. The company opened a new plant in 2014.