Trelleborg Wheel Systems sale likely to close in May

Trelleborg Group has moved its 2023 Capital Markets Day from 21 March to 23 May. We don’t normally report on such perfunctory announcements, but the reason for the above postponement is what makes this particular news of greater interest. According to an official statement published on 9 March, the reason is that “the divestment of group’s tyre operation” that is Trelleborg Wheel Systems (TWS) “is not yet finalized”.

Of course, we already knew that Yokohama’s well-publicised acquisition of TWS is well underway and has been “delayed slightly” from its original completion date of the second half of 2022 to the first half of 2023. Prior to the most recent announcement, the latest news was that the UK Competition and Markets Authority had opened a routine antitrust investigation into the takeover, one that Trelleborg officials are confident will be approved.

That being the case, the 9 March announcement that “Trelleborg wants to be able to give updated information about Trelleborg’s strategy and financial data, showing Group’s situation after the divestment of the tyre operation” on 23 May strongly suggests that Yokohama’s acquisition of TWS will be completed by that point.