The Kumho Asiana Group is one step closer to untying its financial knots following the financial investors of Daewoo Engineering and Construction accepted the terms for selling their share in the company. This leaves the path clear for Kumho Asiana to continue its restructuring plans a step further without losing Kumho Industrial to court receivership.
Cooper Tire & Rubber company has extended its majority shareholding of it Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co Ltd joint venture to 65 per cent. The share acquisition cost Cooper roughly $18 million and came at the behest of minority shareholder Chengshan Group, which exercised a so-called “put” option negotiated as part of the company’s initial Cooper Chengshan investment.
Cooper’s director of investor relations, Curtis Schneekloth, told Tyres & Accessories the transaction should be executed in the first half of this year, adding:
The Pelmar Group has bought some rubber mixing and industrial tyre-making equipment from Trelleborg former Hartville, Ohio factory. The list of purchased machinery includes two K7 mixing lines and solid tyre production machinery. Accoridng to Pelmar, with this acquisition the company has positioned itself as the largest supplier of pre-owned rubber machinery in the tyre and technical rubber industry after finalizing the purchase of Continental Semperit plant in Traiskirchen earlier this year.
With 224 branches already and another 200 on the way following Halfords’ acquisition of the business, Nationwide Autocentres is on the brink of truly becoming a nationwide operation. And while the company’s core business is MOT and servicing rather than just tyres, the scale of the new business alone is likely to have some degree of impact on national tyre sales.
Nationwide currently reports that it serves 500,000 customers each year. These are a mixture of fleet (25 per cent of revenues) and private (75 per cent). The company’s strategy is to differentiate itself within its market by being the only national operator to provide dealership quality service at lower prices. And this customer proposition is supported by a strong website. With companies like Kwik-Fit increasingly offering a wider range of services and companies like Nationwide increasing their interest in tyres, the gap between the traditional tyre specialist and autocentre is narrowing.
The latest developments in Halford’s complex car servicing history (see Halfords Buys Nationwide Autocentres for £73.2 million – 18/02/10), bring with them a distinct sense of déjà-vous and highlight the cyclic nature of ownership in this industry. From Halfords point of view the latest venture represents a new beginning for a business that is radically different to when it last tried car servicing.
Halfords Group has bought Nationwide Autocentres in a £73.2 million deal, which managers described as the next “logical step” in its expansion plans. Nationwide, which has been owned by private equity group Phoenix since 2006, employs 900 mechanics and serves roughly 500,000 customers a year. Nationwide offers customers and fleets MOTs, servicing and repairs, but also recently increased the emphasis on tyres at its 224 outlets.
Speaking on the termination of Vredestein’s five-year connection with Russia’s Amtel in 2009, Apollo Vredestein BV CEO Rob Oudshoorn has admitted in a company publication that “everyone at Vredestein let out a collective sigh of relief” when the cooperation finally ended. Apollo Tyres’ acquisition of Vredestein Banden BV was concluded last May following a prolonged period of financial difficulty for parent company Amtel-Vredestein N.V., and expectations remain high that the Indian company will inject fresh life into its Dutch subsidiary.
Tyre retail group BA Bush & Son and its wholesale arm B.A.B. Distribution has acquired the former Enterprise Tyres in Spalding. The move means that the family-owned business – which is a member of Grouptyre – now operates from two prime sites in the town, while it has increased its network of retail depots throughout Lincolnshire, Humberside and East Yorkshire to 16.
On the 2 February 2010, automotive aftermarket manufacturing and distribution business Klarius completed the purchase of the Quinton Hazell automotive group (QH) from US-based Affinia. Quinton Hazell is headquartered in Leicester, England, with strong manufacturing and distribution assets in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The purchase brings a wide range of well known automotive aftermarket and OEM brands together, combining extensive manufacturing resources from both companies with global sales and distribution networks, boosting the group’s annual turnover to over £350 million. According to Klarius, further acquisitions, which should the group’s turnover pass half a billion euros, are planned.
As part of the restructuring of its Engineered Products and Solutions (EPS) business, a measure taken in order to accelerate growth, Alcoa has appointed Olivier M. Jarrault to the new position of chief operating officer, Engineered Products and Building Systems. In this role, Jarrault, who has served as president of Alcoa Fastening Systems since 2002, will lead the Alcoa Fastening Systems, Alcoa Wheels and Transportation Products, and Building and Construction Systems business units.
Smithers Scientific Services Inc. has entered into an agreement with Akron Test Measurement Systems Integrators Pvt. Ltd. (ATMSI) to provide sales and marketing services through its office in Chennai. “We are expanding our sales efforts in India and Sri Lanka to meet the growing needs in the rubber and tyre markets.” said Jim Dowey, president of Smithers ScientificServices. “This move facilitates the company’s ability to provide customer support and sales services throughout the region.” he added.
Continental AG reports that its capital increase and the 31 million new shares it released have been met with “great interest” by free float shareholders. The company announced on January 26 that free float shareholders purchased 99.4 per cent of the 3,408,130 new shares allotted to them. The remaining new shares for, which subscription rights were not exercised and which were placed already with investors on January 6 and 12 under a reservation of rights being exercised by a bank syndicate headed by Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs International and J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd., will now be issued. The final delivery and settlement will be executed on January 28, 2010. With the capital increase, Continental AG achieved gross proceeds of some €1.114 billion.
High performance motorsport technology supplier Cosworth has renewed its partnership with Beru specialist division bf1systems for the exclusive distribution and ongoing support of bf1systems’ DigiTyre products in the USA. The renewed agreement now includes the new Infra Red Tyre Pressure and Temperature Monitoring System, which utilises infrared elements built into the wheel sensors to give engineers what is said to be the most accurate tyre carcass temperature data.
Alliance Tire Group has appointed Manuel Pintado as president of Alliance Tire Europe BV. Pintado, who joins Alliance after previously heading industrial, farm and OTR tyre initiatives for Goodyear’s Europe Middle East and Africa region. Prior to this, Pintado held management positions in the Earthmover tyre segment across Europe and Latin America.
"With the commissioning of our India facility and the acquisition of the Galaxy and Primex brands during 2009, the Alliance Tire Group is well positioned to emerge as a leader in the Global Off-Highway tyre industry; Manuel's appointment is another important step in this direction and we are sure the Group will benefit immensely from his leadership in Europe, which has been historically the most important market for the Group " said Yogesh Mahansaria, CEO of the Alliance Tire Group, welcoming him to the company.
National Tyres and Autocare finished 2009 on a positive note with a string of new branch openings and looks to the year ahead with plans for further acquisition and investment as part of the company’s expansion strategy. Despite a tough year all round for the market, National launched a number of new branches throughout the year, including sites in Livingston, Grimsby, Norwich, Selby and Leicester. Further branch openings are on National’s agenda for 2010 with the first, in Wrexham, due to launch at the end of January.
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