Marubeni buys controlling stake of Radial Llantas

Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni) has raised its stake in Mexican tyre distributor Radial Llantas S.A.P.I. de C.V. (RL). Marubeni initially bought a 49 per cent shareholding in RL back in 2016. On 21 August 2023, Marubeni confirmed that it now owns 80 per cent of RL thereby making RL a subsidiary of Marubeni.

RL is the largest independent car maintenance chain in Mexico. Since October 2016, when Marubeni first invested in the company, RL’s network of stores has increased from 54 to 85. Marubeni reports that it has contributed to the expansion of RL’s store network and the growth of its business by “dispatching management personnel and providing business know-how, which it has previously cultivated through its activities in this domain in the ASEAN region”.

Mexico has a population of approximately 130 million people, making it the second-largest economy in Latin America. Economic development in the country is forecast to continue due to the expansion of the demographic of median income earners, with stable growth in automobile ownership and the car maintenance market also expected. Through the acquisition of RL as a subsidiary, Marubeni aims to further expand its car maintenance business in Mexico by expediting the expansion of its product lineup and maintenance services catering to the actual needs of consumers.

This share acquisition also builds on Marubeni’s previous successes in the tyre retail domain, which include acquiring shares in Thailand’s largest independent car maintenance company, B-Quik Co., Ltd. in 2006 and subsequently expanding BQ’s business overseas to Cambodia and Indonesia. In 2020, BQ acquired a controlling interest in PT. Oto Internasional (now PT. BQuik Otomotif Indonesia), a company which has been actively engaged in the direct-to-customer car maintenance business.

Currently, Marubeni has more than 300 directly-managed stores in the car maintenance business worldwide and has achieved a significant expansion from the level of 44 stores when Marubeni invested in BQ in 2006. To be specific, as of 31 July 2023 Marubeni owns 85 stores in Mexico, 212 stores in Thailand, 21 stores in Indonesia, and two stores in Cambodia.

But that’s not all. Moving forward, Marubeni aims to “further expand its car maintenance business by utilizing the business know-how it has accumulated over the years and by continuing to promote the expansion of its network of stores in the respective regions in which it operates.” And therefore we can expect further store openings – and potentially even acquisitions in the Far Eastern and Central American regions.

Around the same time as Marubeni increased its stake in RL, the Japanese corporation promoted Takyuki Atsumi from the position of president, Marubeni Mexico S.A. de C.V to President, Marubeni Mexico S.A. de C.V.; general manager, Queretaro Branch effective 1 September 20223.