Slight delay for Yokohama Rubber’s Trelleborg Wheel Systems acquisition

Trelleborg Wheel Systems will soon have a new owner, but not as soon as first announced. The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. now anticipates completing its acquisition of all outstanding shares in Wheel Systems Holding AB in the first half of 2023, rather than during the originally planned second half of 2022. Narrowing this timeframe further, Trelleborg Group says its divestment of the business is “likely in the first months of the year.”

According to Yokohama Rubber, the deal is closing later than initially expected to give competition law authorities in various countries sufficient time to complete their reviews of the share acquisition. Trelleborg Group recently shared that regulatory approval was still pending in a number of countries.

On 25 March 2022, Trelleborg Group signed an agreement to divest its Trelleborg Wheel Systems business area to Yokohama Rubber Company for 2.1 billion euros on a cash and debt-free basis, which represents 13x the business area’s 2021 operational EBITDA, or 17.5x 2021 EBIT. Less than three per cent of the purchase price is subject to the performance of Trelleborg Wheel Systems in 2022. The transaction will result in an estimated capital gain of SEK 6 billion (£537.2 million).