Major US-based replacement tyre wholesaler American Tire Distributors (ATD) has acquired Hercules Tire & Rubber for approximately US$310 million. Details of the purchase – described as a merger – were submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on 24 January. Subject to closing conditions, the transaction is expected to be consummated by the end of January 2014.
This week’s agreement between Goodyear Dunlop Tires France and the CGT union over the tyre maker’s Amiens Nord factory removes the major obstacle that blocked Titan International’s acquisition of the Amiens Nord agricultural tyre business. After hearing that the two parties have buried the hatchet, Titan CEO and chairman Maurice Taylor indicated he’s once again prepared to do business.
According to filings submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, private equity firm MHR Fund Management has acquired nearly five per cent of Titan International’s shares and has options to boost its holdings to 10.9 per cent. On 9 January, MHR purchased 2.6 million shares in the tyre maker for approximately US$39.5 million. In addition, the company paid almost $28.2 million for options that give it the right to buy 3.24 million more shares for $26.3 million.
Ecobat Technologies has grown its battery business with the purchase of the battery collection division of German company Must GmbH and French battery distributor Batteries Accus Technologies. Through the acquisition of Must GmbH’s battery collection vision, the European market leader in lead-based battery collection and component recycling will increase its presence in northern, eastern and central Germany, while the French deal brings a fourth European battery distribution business into Ecobat’s Global Battery Distribution Division, which also consists of Manbat (UK and Republic of Ireland), Hefra (Netherlands), ACA (Belgium).
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Minister of Industrial Renewal Arnaud Montebourg have welcomed the end of the long-term standoff over Goodyear’s Amiens Nord factory. In a statement issued on 22 January, Montebourg expresses confidence that the signing of a deal between Goodyear management and representatives of the CGT (Confédération générale du travail or General Confederation of Labour) union will end the plant’s occupation and seven years of tension.
Marangoni Group has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance (PwC) as its financial advisor to assist with the company’s sales of its car and light truck tyres plant in Anagni near Rome.
TriCan Tire Distributors, a Canadian company owned by American Tire Distributors since 2012, has acquired the wholesale distribution business of Kipling Tire Co. The acquisition of the Toronto-based firm further expands ATD’s reach within Canada.
A securities class action lawsuit has been filed against Cooper Tire & Rubber and certain of the company’s senior executives by a number of investors. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Delaware. The complaint alleges that Cooper violated the federal securities laws by issuing a series of materially misleading statements and omissions in connection with the proposed acquisition of the company by Apollo announced on 12 June, 2013. In addition, the complaint alleges that Cooper misrepresented Cooper’s financial condition, financial prospects, and the effectiveness of the Company’s internal controls.
Although production of Cooper brand tyres at the Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire joint venture facility will soon recommence, Cooper Tire & Rubber has cautioned that returning to normal financial reporting may take a little longer.
As late as 15 November, Cooper Tire & Rubber wrote in a statement that it “continues to seek the expeditious closing of the merger with Apollo Tyres.” Yet Sunam Sarkar, chief financial officer at Apollo Tyres, opines that Cooper’s fidelity as a partner was in question from the very start – a point that only came to light later on.
Three days before Cooper Tire & Rubber’s scheduled appeal hearing, Delaware Supreme Court has dismissed the tyre maker’s appeal. A court filing signed by Justice Randy J. Holland stated that “based upon the filings by the parties, the Court has concluded that this interlocutory appeal was improvidently accepted”, or in other words it shouldn’t have been accepted by the court to start with.
According to an unconfirmed report, the United Steelworkers union has reached an agreement with Cooper Tire & Rubber regarding labour contracts at Cooper’s Findlay, Ohio and Texarkana, Arkansas plants. Financial website The Street wrote on 12 December that “a source close to the matter” said the USW has “worked out tentative agreements with Cooper based on potential outcomes.”
Terex Corporation has agreed to sell its truck business to Volvo Construction Equipment for approximately $160 million. The truck business manufactures and sells off-highway rigid and articulated haul trucks. The deal includes the firm’s Motherwell, Scotland manufacturing facility. The sale, which is subject to government regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is targeted to close in the first half of 2014.
Bridgestone Corporation has sold its 14.9 per cent share in Sameer Africa Ltd, and the Kenyan tyre maker says it has found a potential strategic investor to replace the Japanese firm as a source of technical assistance and support. To facilitate this new arrangement, the approximately 41.5 million shares Bridgestone held in Sameer Africa have been transferred to Sameer Investments Limited.
Vredestein has brought back its second brand with the introduction of the Maloya Quadris all-season tyre. The brand, which originated in Switzerland and gained a new homeland with its acquisition by Vredestein in 1993, was absent from the company’s portfolio for the last year and a half. At the time company officials said the name was by no means ‘dead’ and, true to their word, it has been resuscitated.
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