Micheldever buys Bell Silencer Services
Micheldever Tyre Services has bought Bell Silencer Services, founded in Swindon in 1977 by engineer Ron Bell, for an undisclosed fee. The sale reportedly took four months to complete.
Posts
DX buys Legal Post and First Post
DX, the mail and logistics operator, announced the acquisition of the trade and assets of Legal Post and First Post from First Scottish on Wednesday 11 May 2016. The deal is worth £3.25 million, with completion expected at the end of May.
Legal Post provides a document exchange and postal service in Scotland, delivering legal documentation quickly and efficiently. First Post operates a Downstream Access mail service in Scotland offering a high quality, cost effective alternative to Royal Mail’s first and second class services.
EC clears Trelleborg acquisition of ČGS Holding
Approval has been given for Sweden’s Trelleborg AB to acquire ČGS Holding a.s., parent company of Czech tyre maker Mitas. In a statement issued this week, the European Commission shared that its assessment of the deal focused on the extent to which the two companies’ original equipment and aftermarket activities overlapped. The Commission found that Trelleborg and Mitas agricultural tyres “focus on different price and quality tiers” and are therefore “not close competitors.”
Italy’s Fintyre acquires tyre wholesaler Franco Gomme
The recent acquisition of Italian tyre distributor Franco Gomme by the country’s leading aftermarket tyre distributor, the Fintyre Group, is said to have pushed Fintyre into the ‘top five’ of Europe’s independent tyre distributors – the two firms’ combined turnover is expected to exceed €400 million in 2016. Through its acquisition of Franco Gomme, Fintyre aims to enhance its position the Italian market through increased coverage, more widespread distribution and new sales channels.
Cavendish now a JK Tyre subsidiary
JK Tyre & Industries Ltd reports that the acquisition of tyre, tube and flap manufacturer Cavendish Industries Ltd. was completed on 13 April, and the company is thus now a JK Tyre subsidiary. The Indian tyre maker acquired 64 per cent of all equity shares in Cavendish for Rs 10 each; the remaining equity shares in Cavendish have been acquired by associate and group companies of JK Tyre.
ATG looking forward to economies of scale with Yokohama
Although Yokohama Rubber plans to “create a premier global tyre manufacturing company” through its acquisition of Alliance Tire Group (ATG) and resultant synergies in expertise and experience, the Japanese firm confirms it will retain the ATG business model, along with the company’s “culture” and brands.
Yokohama Rubber acquiring Alliance Tire Group
On 25 March, the Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. announced it has reached an agreement with global investment firm KKR and three other parties to purchase all shares in Alliance Tire Group (ATG) for an agreed equity value of US$1,179 million. The transaction is expected to be finalised on 1 July 2016, after the completion of all necessary closing procedures, including regulatory approvals.
Pirelli truck tyres separating and merging with Aeolus/ChemChina
Pirelli’s Chinese owner ChemChina has officially entered into negotiations relating to the separating out the Italian firm’s truck tyre business in order to combine it with Aeolus and the three other ChemChina-owned tyre businesses.
Yokohama denies Alliance (ATG) acquisition rumours
Yokohama has denied press reports that it is aiming to buy a majority of Alliance Tire Group (ATG). Acquisition talk had suggested private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) was in talks to sell what would amount to a majority shareholding of its stake in ATG (which is currently 90 per cent) to Yokohama.
Camso buys Southern Industrial Tyres
Camso, the industrial tyre and track specialist formerly known as Camoplast Solideal, bought Southern Industrial Tyres in January 2016. Interestingly for the UK industrial tyre sector, Camso executives described the move as “a strategic effort to strengthen [the firm’s] material handling tyre distribution and service business in the UK”. In its statement on the matter Camso said the acquisition enhances Camso’s leadership position in the UK and continues the company’s vision for “tyre service”. No details of financial terms have been disclosed.
Tyretraders.com enters administration
Martin T Coyne & Matt D Hardy of Birmingham based Poppleton & Appleby have been appointed as joint administrators of Tyretraders.com Ltd. Overhead expenses, rising costs, the fall in tyre prices and investment that apparently outpaced growth of the business are all said to have led to the company entering administration. Moving forward, the administrators aim to sell the business as a going concern.
Will a tyre major acquire ATG?
Indian financial daily The Economic Times reports that American private equity firm KKR & Co. L.P. has begun initial talks that may result in the sale of its 90 per cent share in off-highway tyre specialist Alliance Tire Group. The publication names Sumitomo, Continental and Michelin as potential buyers, however it notes that no confirmation of these firms’ interest has been given.
ChemChina to acquire Swiss agribusiness firm for US$43 billion
Pirelli’s parent company, state-owned group China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina), has deep pockets. After acquiring the tyre maker last year it announced its purchase of KraussMaffei Group and shares in Mercuria Energy Trading in January. And yesterday ChemChina gave word of a deal that will be China’s largest overseas takeover ever – the company intends to acquire Swiss agrochemical and seeds company Syngenta AG for US$43 billion by way of a public tender offer.
Growth in Norway – Rema Tip Top acquires local distributor
Rema Tip Top reports the acquisition of Norwegian distributor Flexpro AS. The conveyor systems and plant component specialist entered the Rema Tip Top fold on 1 January; the two companies have “agreed to preserve silence” on the acquisition’s financial details.
Qingdao carbon black JV now wholly Orion-owned
Carbon black supplier Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. shares that its acquisition of the remaining 64 per cent share in the Qingdao Evonik Chemical Co. Ltd. (QECC) carbon black business in Qingdao, China has now been completed.
