ATU: Mobivia acquires Michelin’s minority shareholding

Five years ago, Michelin purchased a 20 per cent stake in German automotive parts and servicing network ATU for 60 million euros. The French tyre maker has now confirmed to our sister publication that majority shareholder, France’s Mobivia Group, will acquire the minority stake from Michelin “in the next few days” and thus become the retail chain’s sole owner.

Michelin’s Europe North headquarters in Frankfurt am Main verified that “ATU is no longer one of the group’s holdings” as in recent days “Mobivia bought back the shares from Michelin.” When asked, neither the buyer nor seller wished to comment, both remaining tight-lipped about background details pertaining to the transaction. Michelin pointed out that Mobivia has been the primary shareholder since 2016 and would therefore be responsible for providing “further information.” Mobivia’s headquarters in Lille, France promises to provide answers, but has not yet done so.

Official silence fuels speculation about what lies behind this transaction, ranging from the partners’ failure to achieve their goals, to liquidity or strategy issues, to a possible (renewed) sale of ATU. Several rumours exist – and all are entirely unconfirmed.

In 2018, Michelin stressed that it hoped to gain “better market access” for its products in the approximately 600 ATU branches by acquiring a stake in the German brand. In particular, Anish K. Taneja, then chief executive officer of Michelin Europe North, emphasised shortly after purchasing the minority shareholding that “quite a lot could be done” with the ATU online shop.

The original version of this article first appeared on our German-language sister publication’s website, Reifenpresse.de