Mahansaria Tyres Private Limited (MTPL) completes acquisition of EATD

Mahansaria Tyres Private Ltd (MTPL) has completed the previously announced acquisition of a majority stake in European Agriculture Tyre Distributor (EATD). As a result, EATD has relocated its operations from Strijen, The Netherlands, to Wallenhorst in Germany.

The company will distribute MTPL’s “Ascenso” brand of tyres in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. The business will also continue distributing Tianli tyres, manufactured by Tianjin, China-based manufacturer of agriculture, forestry and earthmover tyres, Tianli. The moves are said to be the first part of developing EATD into “a leading off-highway tyre distributor in Europe.”

“We have known Wolfgang Luettschwager founder of EATD for over 20 years and have highest regards for his deep knowledge and experience in the European off-highway tyres market,” said MTPL founder Yogesh Mahansaria. EATD was set up six years ago and the new combination of Tianli and MTPL is expected to open “new opportunities in a highly competitive market”, he concluded.

MTPL announced the acquisition bid in November last year, when it also unveiled plans to build a 127-acre tire manufacturing facility, due for completion by end of the year.

Owned by the Mahansaria family – father, Ashok Mahansaria and son, Yogesh Mahansaria – the company is building the 90-million euro greenfield off-highway tyre manufacturing plant in Panoli in the south west Gujarat.

The Mahansaria family has over 30 years of experience in the tire industry: building two major off-highway tire businesses: Alliance Tire Group and prior to that Balkrishna Industries Ltd (BKT).

Yogesh Mahansaria is the former majority owner and CEO of Alliance Tire Group and prior to that an executive with BKT Tyres Ltd. He orchestrated the purchase of Israel’s Alliance Tyres in 2007 and then sold majority interest of the expanded enterprises in 2013 to the global investment firm KKR & Co. LP.

Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. acquired ATG in 2016 from KKR, the Mahansarias and other minority shareholders.