Kwik-Fit For Sale for £250 million?
Kwik-Fit, the UK’s leading tyre retailer, has reportedly been put up for auction by its owners PAI Partners. PAI, a French private equity group, bought Kwik-Fit from CVC Capital Partners for roughly £800 million in 2005 after seeing off competing bids from suitors including global tyremaker Bridgestone. Newspaper reports from sources including The Guardian and The Scotsman published on the 30 and 31 May respectively suggest that Kwik-Fit has once again attracted the attention of private equity groups including Blackstone, KKR and Permira. However both reports also speculate about the likelihood of Bridgestone’s involvement in bidding for Kwik-Fit’s latest change of ownership. A source close to Kwik-Fit’s owners told Tyres & Accessories that the press reports were inaccurate and “there is no formal sale process,” but confirmed that there is a formal sale process for the firm’s insurance arm.
Continue ReadingWynonna Judd Working in a Tyre Shop?
The erratic ongoing career of singer Wynonna Judd may have led to her being called a country retread, but you could be forgiven for thinking that is a close as she has been to a set of tyres. And you'd be half right. Last night (19 May 2010) American television network CBS broadcast its latest episode of “I Get That a Lot” – a programme which sees celebrities squirm in real-world jobs as customers question where they have seen them before – which saw Judd exchange country ballads for worn treads and wet traction.
Continue ReadingDoncaster Tyre Fire Will ‘Burn for Days’
A pile of around 2,000 tyres caught light at a landfill site in Hampole, Doncaster on 10 May. Fire crews were called to the Hazel Lane Landfill/waste recycling plant, run by Catplant Ltd at around 4.50am, according to local news reports. At the height of the blaze, there were a reported 40 fighters from both South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire dealing with a fire which was thought to extend down to five metres below the surface. The cause of the fire remains undetermined and a fire service spokesman said no investigations into the cause would be made until the blaze had been put out. There have been no reports of injuries.
Continue ReadingBrickhill: Tyre Labelling to Facilitate Tyre Value Conversation
his last public engagement before completing his transfer to Brussels. Goodyear Dunlop’s new vice president of the company’s EU Consumer Business Unit talked at length on a wide range of subjects including what he sees as “the cornerstone of our branding strategy”; his thoughts on the newly launched Dunlop High Performance Centre and the rest of the company’s retail involvement; Dunlop and HiQ’s roles in the BTCC and his experiences with the company over his time in the UK hotseat. Here, tyrepress.com presents Brickhills thoughts on his new role in the companys EMEA division and his views on tyre labelling. The whole interview will be printed in the May edition of Tyres & Accessories Magazine.
Continue ReadingFire at Environtyre in Country Durham
Envirotyre has suffered a significant fire at its tyre reprocessing plant on Littleburn Industrial Estate, Langley Moor, County Durham. According to local news reports, firefighters were called to the scene at about 10.30am today (22 April 2010). Fire chiefs reported that the fire could burn “for several more days.” No injuries have been reported. There has been no confirmation of how much damage has been caused. The Northern Echo reported that a plume of smoke emanating from burning tyre chip in at firm could be seen rising “hundreds of feet into the sky and [could be] seen as far away as Morpeth, in Northumberland, and on Teesside.” The fire is said to have burnt at close to 1,000 degrees Celsius at its peak.
Continue ReadingMicheldever’s Up For Sale, But Who’s Buying?
When you consider that they paid £85 million for Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) in 2006, it is no surprise that equity house Graphite Capital is willing to sell the company now it is in the position to command a £200 million price tag. Back then Graphite were cast as the backers for a management buy-in/buy-out that kept the independent tyre wholesaler in independent hands and out of the corporate grasp of ‘big business.’ Now it seems that the motivation to sell the UK’s largest single tyre wholesaler (along with its 50 Protyre retail depots) emanates primarily from the same equity house that kept it in the hands of its managers four years ago. Micheldever Tyre Services is said to have started out in a shed in 1972. Over the next 34 years Tony Todd grew the company into a market leading independent wholesaler with a loyal customer base. By the time he sold it in 2006, MTS had become a truly multi-million pound business, with the staff count reaching over 550 people, sales reaching £148 million annually and pre-tax profits amounting to £5 million a year. Since then turnover and staff levels have almost doubled to £275 million and 900 people in 2009, with MTS particularly benefitting from its exclusive distribution of some leading upper mid-range products during the recession.
Continue ReadingNational Tyres to Sell Tyres on eBay
National Tyres and Autocare reports that it has teamed up with eBay to offer car and van tyres to consumers online. National joins well known retail names Tesco, Argos and Debenhams as a top rated seller on the popular site. According to the company, the new partnership enables National to “reach out to a greater number of customers.” Michael Bourne, group marketing director at National Tyres and Autocare, commented: “We are always looking at innovative ways to reach new markets. Our research found that traditional eBay customers were unlikely to consider high street retailers for their tyre purchases, assuming prices to be uncompetitive.
Continue ReadingMicheldever Put Up for Sale, Wholesaler Could Reach Over £200 million
The UK’s largest tyre wholesaler Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) could be about to change hands for over £200 million, more than twice the price paid for the company when it was sold in an equity-backed management buyout for £85 million in 2006. According to reports published in the 11 April issue of the Sunday Times, the sale would include 50 Protyre depots – Micheldever’s growing retail chain. MTS an annual turnover of £275 million, a roughly 20 per cent market share and employs almost 900 people.
Continue ReadingMicheldever Adds General Brand Car Line to 4×4 Range
Leading wholesaler Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) has added the Continental produced General Tire brand’s car range to its existing General 4x4 offering. The addition of the General car range to MTS’s private/exclusive brand portfolio follows the development of General’s 4x4 range into “the UK market’s fastest growing replacement 4x4 brand,” according to Southam Tyres (MTS’s specialist 4x4 wing). According to the company, MTS recently launched the stunning range of General car and van tyres as an exclusive product for tyre retailers in need of a high quality, high margin retail tyre.
Continue ReadingFire Brigades Choose Bridgestone
Increasing numbers of UK fire services are choosing Bridgestone UK for their front line appliances. According to the company, fire services in Essex, West Sussex, East Sussex and Hampshire have all selected Bridgestone products due to the “enhanced performance, and improved life of their tyres.” Many fire services are changing to use the popular R249 truck tyre. Bridgestone UK’s popularity is said to be still on the rise, with more UK fire services either testing or using the company’s tyres.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop Regaining Lost UK Truck Tyre Market Share
2009 was a difficult year for the whole tyre business, but those selling commercial vehicle tyres had a particularly rough ride. With operators running fewer vehicles less often, and with the credit crunch biting at the heels of haulage companies already under pressure from sky-high fuel prices, there was considerable price pressure on premium tyre companies. As a result, last year saw the total UK truck tyre market shrink and some key changes take place in terms of market share. One key decline in unit share saw Goodyear Dunlop slip from 20 per cent in 2007 (third place) to estimated 9 per cent in 2009 (fifth place). With this in mind and in the context of the appointment of a new managing director at Tyre Fort, Tyres & Accessories visited Goodyear Dunlop’s UK headquarters for an exclusive interview with Nigel Sowerby, director commercial vehicle and off-the-road tyres.
Continue ReadingVacu-Lug Deflates Yokohama Truck Tyre Prices
While the majority of tyre manufacturers are increasing prices, Vacu-Lug Tyres Ltd has announced that it is actually reducing the cost of the Yokohama truck tyres it exclusively distributes in Great Britain. Vacu-Lug managing director Tim Hercock commented: “We have been doing a lot of work recently to improve efficiencies in our sales and logistics channels and as a result have been able to reduce our distribution costs which we have decided to pass on to our customers,” in a statement explaining that the price decrease covers the majority of the Yokohama truck tyre range, he added: “we are constantly being notified by our other tyre suppliers that their prices are going up and we thought that we would try and buck the trend by making the product range more competitive”.
Continue ReadingInfinity Aims to ‘Go Deep’ with Fast Growing ‘Premium Budget’ Strategy
When Al-Dobowi Group executives Surrender Singh Kandhari and his son Harjeev Singh Kandhari founded Infinity tyres six years ago, they probably didn't envisage how quickly their ambitious plans would come to fruition. What began with a series of informal meetings with key employees and potential suppliers in 2004 has since grown into an international exclusive/private brand operation present in 60 countries around the world. The kernel of a concept the Kandharis planted back then has developed through key partnerships with Chinese supplying manufacturer Shandong Linglong Co., Ltd. (see following article for more on this company's latest developments including its plans to construct a $200 million proving ground) and key distribution partners in Europe and Africa. With the recent addition of a Canadian distribution arm last year and with fledgling partnerships in both the Russian and Ukrainian markets, the company's global ambitions are clear.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop EMEA Announces Management Reshuffle
Following the news that former Goodyear Dunlop UK & MD Mark Brickhill has been promoted to the position of vice president of the company’s consumer business unit in Europe, Goodyear Dunlop EMEA has released further details of the recent changes in the businesses European management. In order to “capitalize on building a more efficient organization” the company has established a new leadership position oversee Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations (GDTO) and the Luxembourg complex. Philippe Degeer, who was previously vice president of the consumer business unit has been appointed to the position of VP Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations. In this position, Degeer will continue to report to Arthur De Bok, who remains president EMEA.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop Names George Rietbergen As New UK MD
Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe has appointed George Rietbergen as managing director UK and Ireland. Rietbergen will move to Birmingham to take over from Mark Brickhill, who has been promoted to vice-president of the company’s Consumer Business Unit EU. The appointment means Rietbergen is Goodyear Dunlop UK and Ireland’s third managing director since 2004.
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