October has been a tumultuous month for US tyre distribution. First ATD filed for Chapter 11 during the first week of the month. Then, less than two week’s later Sears, which includes Sears Autocentres (itself one just two major tyre installation partners for Amazon), also applied for bankruptcy protection. Now market analysts are asking if Amazon is planning to buy ATD.
A month after its credit rating was downgraded, American Tire Distributors, Inc. (ATD), the largest tyre wholesaler not only in the USA, but in the entire NAFTA region, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the District of Delaware on 4 October. At the time, the company announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with approximately 75 per cent of its bondholders on the terms of a recapitalization that would reduce the company’s debt by approximately $1.1 billion and increase its financial flexibility as it continues its ongoing transformation
Wejo, a leading UK technology company which collates data from connected vehicles, has announced that its technology is now tracking seven million vehicles in 190 countries worldwide and it has acquired a Silicon Valley based technology firm as part of its expansion plans.
On 1 October Cabot Corporation acquired NSCC Carbon (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. from Nippon Steel Carbon Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Nippon Steel Chemical & Material Co., Ltd. The carbon black manufacturing facility in Pizhou, Jiangsu Province, China, was originally commissioned in 2015. The purchase price and certain equipment and technology upgrades are expected to result in spending of approximately $50 million over the next two years.
Horiba Europe GmbH has successfully completed the acquisition of FuelCon AG. FuelCon – now to be called Horiba FuelCon – has become part of Horiba Automotive Test Systems – a leading supplier in the fields of engine, driveline, brake and emissions test systems.
On 1 October Hexpol completed the acquisition of 80 per cent of the shares of Italian compounder Mesgo Group from previous owner Francesco Caldara and co-owners. Hexpol describes Mesgo as “an industry leader in high performance elastomers as fluorocarbons and silicone”. In addition, Mesgo also specializes in conventional rubber compounds and thermoplastics. The major customer segments Mesgo focuses on are industry, consumer products, transportation and automotive. Mesgo Group reports annual turnover of around 100 million euros, with around 180 employees in six facilities.
ELTA Automotive Ltd has recently been the subject of a management buyout (MBO) with the goal of “making it fit…for its next 25 years”.
This latest development, which was formally agreed on 11 September, sees managing director Ian Hallam, who has worked with ELTA since the company was incorporated 25 years ago, become the company’s co-owner, alongside long-term European partner Luxline spol. s r.o – led by Vladimír Palacka. Ian Hallam and Luxline become equal shareholders of a new holding company, ELTA Investments replacing the previous holding company, Claverdon Fields.
East of England-based tyre wholesaler RH Claydon has expanded its business with the acquisition of agricultural, industrial and specialist tyre wholesaler Unity Tyre.
Bridgestone has bought all the shares of ETB. ETB – otherwise known as Exhaust Tyres Batteries and Britannia Tyres – runs 32 different locations, with 265 employees assisting more than 10,000 customers a month. The news follows the sale of Bridgestone’s Kingsway tyre retail business in the East England to Lodge Tyre in September 2017. More widely, Bridgestone has been behind a series of high-profile tyre retail acquisitions across the major European tyre markets.
Both ETB and Britannia Tyres will continue operating under their current identities and with their current team, with founder Charles Ivill continuing to direct operations from the ETB company headquarters in Worcester.
An agreement was signed today for the sale of Lanxess’ 50 per cent share in the Arlanxeo joint venture to its partner, Saudi Aramco. Should antitrust authorities approve the transaction, Lanxess will receive approximately 1.4 billion euros in cash after deducting debt and other financial liabilities for its 50 per cent share in the business, which is valued at 3.0 billion euros. Lanxess, which at the end of June 2018 had a net financial debt of 2.6 billion euros, says it plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its financial basis and reduce net financial debt.
As part of the transaction that saw Zenises group purchase Vacu-Lug, Zenises Group has confirmed that it has also made “several large capital commitments in equipment and technology to ensure that Vacu-Lug becomes, over time, the most advanced independent retreader in Europe”.
Zenises has bought Grantham-based Vacu-Lug. The acquisition means Vacu-Lug remains the only significantly sized independent retreader in the UK. With an annual truck tyre retread capacity of 120,000, Zenises representatives described the firm as the largest independent retreader in Europe.
German equity investment company Stargate Capital GmbH has entered into an agreement to purchase the Beissbarth GmbH and Sicam Srl subsidiaries from Robert Bosch GmbH. The purchase price has not been disclosed, and the deal’s finalisation is subject to approval from antitrust authorities.
With the purchase of 32 hectares of land in the Romanian city of Timişoara, Continental aims to expand its storage capacity and optimise the overall cost of its logistics. The land was purchased from the UMT and Prompt groups for an undisclosed sum and is located close to the Continental tyre factory within the city.
Dutch tyre wholesaler the Van den Ban Group has bought Sweden’s Amring AB. The Gothenburg-based tyre and wheel wholesaler and retailer had belonged to Pon Tyre Group since 2008. With this acquisition, Van den Ban increases its presence in Scandinavia. Further details regarding the transaction are not known at this stage
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