Aeolus ends direct Pirelli tie-up, signs Pirelli deal with PTG

Aeolus Tyre Co. Ltd has dissolved its direct license contract with Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. for Industrial segment technology, replacing this agreement with one it signed with Prometeon Tyre Group S.r.l. (PTG) earlier in the month.

Upon releasing its financial results for the first half of 2016, Pirelli announced the formalisation of a license contract between Pirelli Tyre and Aeolus for technology pertaining to the Industrial segment. The technical tie-up resulting from this contract has now been dissolved by a ‘Termination and Dissolution Agreement’, effective 1 January 2024. In its place, Aeolus Tyre signed a ‘Patent and Proprietary Technology Sub-Licence Agreement’ with Prometeon Tyre Group S.r.l. (PTG) on 15 March 2024.

PTG sharing Pirelli proprietary technology

According to the terms of the Patent and Proprietary Technology Sub-Licence Agreement, Aeolus Tyre will receive patented and proprietary technology that Pirelli has licensed to PTG. The non-exclusive and non-transferable Patent and Proprietary Technology Sub-Licence Agreement permits Aeolus Tyre to improve, modify, upgrade and develop the technical information that it receives via PTG. The company also gains the right to manufacture, import, market, promote, distribute and/or sell Pirelli-branded truck/bus and off-highway tyres in specific regions.

In return, Aeolus Tyre will pay PTG licensing fees from 1 January 2024 to December 2028. For 2024-2025, these fees will amount to 4.5 million euros or, if higher, one per cent of net sales, to a maximum of 7 million euros. Fees for 2026-2027 will amount to 3.3 million euros or, if higher, one per cent of net sales, to a maximum of 5 million euros. For 2028, fees will be 2 million euros or, if higher, one per cent of net sales, to a maximum of 5 million euros.

Golden Power

Chinese state-owned enterprise Sinochem has a controlling stake in all protagonists mentioned here. Although Aeolus Tyre does not explain in the announcement it submitted to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on 19 March 2024 why it terminated the direct technical relationship with Pirelli, last year the Italian government used its Golden Power decree to limit Sinochem’s influence upon Pirelli. This placed restrictions upon the sharing of technologies it considers to be of “national strategic importance.”