US-based wheel and automotive componentry manufacturer Accuride Corporation now belongs to funds managed by private equity firm Crestview Partners. The merger agreement, which was unanimously approved by Accuride’s board of directors in early September, was adopted by company shareholders at a meeting on 15 November.
Online tyre retailer Delticom has acquired the material assets of French online used car portal AutoPink. In addition to giving the German company the AutoPink and Facilicar brands, the approximately half a million euro purchase price brings the corresponding domains, customer base and existing IT systems and contracts into the Delticom fold.
Sri Lankan off-highway tyre specialist Global Rubber Industries (GRI) has acquired two privately held companies that retail and service industrial tyres in the United States. It purchase of Leffler Industrial Tire & Rubber Track, Inc. aids GRI in its objective of broadening its geographical reach, enhancing distribution channels and accelerating its route to market within the USA. GRI states that the synergies of both companies will reinforce its position as a “prominent supplier of specialty tyres in the United States.”
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. It is almost three years since Apollo Tyres Ltd’s planned takeover of Cooper Tire & Rubber fell apart, and now the company is in the running to acquire another top-15 global tyre maker. In an interview with Indian newspaper The Hindu, Apollo vice-chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar confirmed the submission of a non-binding bid to acquire Kumho Tire, however he also indicated that Apollo Tyres isn’t rushing into anything.
When Continental AG announced its purchase of Hoosier Racing Tire last month, it didn’t disclose the price paid for the US-based company. Details of the transaction can be found in Continental’s Q3 2016 financial report, however, and there the company writes that the provisional purchase price for Hoosier Racing Tire was approximately €126 million. This sum was paid in cash, it adds.
According to The Economic Times, Apollo Tyres has shown interest in acquiring Kumho Tire. The Indian financial daily says Apollo is competing with Chinese firms Shandong Linglong Tire and ChemChina to acquire the South Korean tyre maker, a transaction said to be valued at US$900 million.
Reuters reports that ChemChina did not bid for Kumho Tire, citing a ChemChina executive. told Reuters, denying South Korean media. Roughly 10 parties are said to have expressed an interest in buying a controlling stake in Kumho, which is the world’s 12th-biggest tyre manufacturer. Analysts suggest the deal could be worth around 1 trillion won ($870.02 million).
Coventry-based car panel OE supplier Covpress entered administration at the end of September, with administrators stressing there are no current plans for redundancies amongst the 800 staff. Rather there is a good chance the business will be sold as a going concern. So far around 50 companies are said to have expressed an interest. But with business on the up at Covpress, could a deflated Chinese tyre business be behind the news?
Technical Rubber Company, Inc. (the Johnson, Ohio-based firm also known as Tech or TRC) has bought of Rovereto, Italy-based Salvadori S.r.l in a transaction that completed last week.
DRT has agreed to buy Pinova Inc., the specialty resins and chemical intermediates manufacturer. DRT will acquire Pinova Inc. and its diversified portfolio of industry applications as well as its Brunswick manufacturing site from Symrise for US$150 million. Pinova Inc.’s 2016 sales are expected to total about $111 million.
As part of the transaction, Symrise and DRT have also agreed on a co-operation for individual product development projects as well as for the supply of strategic raw materials.
On 24 October Japanese conglomerate Marubeni announced it had purchased a large minority shareholding in Mexican tyre dealer Radial Llantas. According to the company, Marubeni has bought 49 per cent of the shares in Radial Llantas. The pricetag for the stockholding is said to be “several billion yen”, according to Wards Auto.
Speculation is rife in South Korea regarding who’ll acquire the 42.1 per cent shareholding in Kumho Tire that is currently up for sale. Pirelli parent company ChemChina has already been named as a prospective buyer, as have Continental and Michelin. One tyre company can, however, be ruled out as a new Kumho Tire shareholder.
Late last month it seemed the planned acquisition of A.T.U. by France’s Mobivia would deliver “synergies and interesting development opportunities” for the German tyre and car maintenance chain, however it now appears this appraisal was slightly optimistic. According to information appearing in German publication ‘Manager Magazin’, a major hurdle still stands in the way of the proposed deal’s completion.
Swedish software house Compilator announced that it has agreed to acquire English tyre software specialist Team Systems Ltd on 15 September. As a result of the acquisition Compilator gains about 500 new customers as well as six new employees.
In addition to its acquisition of Hoosier Racing Tire, Continental AG reports it has taken an approximately 81 per cent shareholding in US fleet management solutions provider Zonar Systems Inc. Upon announcing the share purchase, Continental noted that its involvement in Zonar has the potential to “chart the course of the future of smart fleet management” around the world.
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