acquisition Archives - Page 74 of 90

Pirelli’s Telecom Italia Sale Delayed

The sale of Pirelli’s loss-making share in Telecom Italia has been delayed by Brazil’s telecommunications regulator Anatel. The regulator’s review of the deal was postponed on August 30 in order for it to have more time to consider the acquisition in greater depth.

Anatel must approve the deal because Spain’s Telefonica, one of the investors in Telco, the holding company that has agreed to acquire control of Telecom Italia, also operates mobile phone services competing against Telecom Italia in Brazil. Representatives at Telefonica state they do not see any potential problems arising with Anatel.

The Spanish phone company is one of several investors that agreed to purchase Olimpia in April for more than four billion euros plus debt. However the investors must wait until Anatel grants approval before closing the deal.

3rd September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Moscow Tyre Plant Produces Millionth Amtel tyre

Product News

Approximately a year after its acquisition by Russia’s leading passenger car tyre producer, Amtel-Vredestein’s Moscow Tyre Plant has manufactured its millionth Amtel brand tyre. Production of Amtel branded products began a month after the facility was acquired by Amtel-Vredestein in August 2006, and since that time both monthly output and product range have gradually increased. Amtel-Vredestein reports that 18 types of tyre are now produced in the factory, including four popular Amtel NordMaster2 models.

24th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin to Use Pneu-Logic Tyre Inspection Technology

Product News

Michelin has signed a five-year contract that will see the French tyremaker utilise tyre inspection technology produced by Advanced ID Corporation. On August 6 the RFID technology specialist announced that its tyre division, UK based Pneu-Logic, will provide Michelin’s French reseller EDP with a hardware platform and software application specifically designed to meet the needs of Michelin’s global Business Partners. This product has been named URM and implementation of the technology has begun in more than ten European countries.

Ken Field, Pneu-Logic’s Sales Director for Europe, stated, “This is an excellent example of working with a very good reseller and Michelin to deliver a solution with substantial benefits to Michelin’s partners and customers. Based on the Pneu-Logic platform, EDP has developed the URM software to meet the exact needs of Michelin’s partners who deliver much of Michelin’s world renowned service.”

7th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Analysts See Oliver Acquisition as Positive Move for Michelin

Product News

Financial analysts are predicting Michelin will continue to grow its retread business following the purchase of Cooper Tire & Rubber subsidiary, Oliver Rubber Company. “This would mean that Michelin is growing in the tyre retread business,” Deutsche Bank analysts wrote, adding: “The group has currently approximately 700 million euros of revenues in retread. This is potentially a very interesting market which should grow (penetration rate of only 37 per cent in Europe versus 85 per cent in North America, and should be highly profitable [with] significantly less capital expenditure and raw material costs. We believe that this strategic move will give vertically integrated tyre Co a significant competitive advantage.

1st August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Black Belt

Premium, Product News

When asked how an Italian company ended up with English sounding name, the team at Butler reply that the moniker its founders agreed upon back in 1988 expresses one of their goals – to take a different and better approach to client service. And from their premises near the supercar mecca of Modena the company set out not only to provide a high level of service, but also to manufacture workshop equipment they hoped would turn upside-down a number of established ideas about the design and construction of these machines.

Nearly twenty years later Butler still adheres to these principles. The company’s acquisition by the Sa.Mi.Ro. Group in February 2006 has strengthened Butler’s position in the global equipment market and enabled it to continue offering customers a wide range of Italian manufactured equipment. This commitment to retaining production locally and within the Sa.Mi.Ro. Group has been reinforced by the construction of new a new purpose-built 20,000 square metre facility – more than double the size of the existing premises – in the nearby town of Rolo. Butler will transfer its operations to the Rolo site in the first half of 2008.

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31st July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Sales Up, Profits Posted, Titan Eyes 73.5-Inch Tyre

Product News

(Akron/Tire Review) Titan International posted record first half sales of $436.6, up 22 per cent from the same period last year, but dropped only $2.5 million in net profits for the period, down from a $14.2 million net profit in the first half of 2006.

Titan said its total sales for second quarter 2007 were $210.3 million, up 20 per cent from the $175.2 million in sales posted for the second quarter of 2006. Net income for the quarter was $5.0 million, down slightly from 2006’s $5.6 million.

“The second quarter has been very exciting for Titan,” said Maurice Taylor, Titan’s chairman and CEO. “Our sales are up, as they should be from last year’s acquisition. We are expanding our OTR business and adding new OTR products by expanding capacity in Freeport, Illinois. While this is happening in Freeport, certain farm tyres are being transferred to our Des Moines facility.”

31st July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Buys Oliver Rubber for $69 million

Product News

Michelin North America, Inc. has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Oliver Rubber Company, the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company tread rubber and retreading equipment subsidiary, for $69 million. The acquisition is subject to final due diligence as well as Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice approval. Following the acquisition, Oliver will operate as a subsidiary of Michelin North America, Inc.

According to an official statement on the subject: “This acquisition will complement the manufacturing capability and service network of Oliver with that of the Michelin Retread Technologies (MRT) network, enabling Michelin to extend its reach in the growing commercial retreading market. In 2005 Michelin announced a major expansion of its tread manufacturing facility in Covington, Ga. and, earlier this month, the opening of a new manufacturing facility in Mexico.”

31st July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

A ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Opportunity

Product News

Having just been given the nod to proceed with the largest acquisition in its 136 year history, Continental AG is set to become one of the top five worldwide automotive suppliers. Following the July 25 granting of consent from the supervisory boards of both Continental and Siemens, the 11.4 billion euro purchase of the latter’s VDO Automotive division was approved subject to permission from antitrust authorities.

Based on 2006 figures, the combined annual sales of Continental and Siemens VDO Automotive AG will reach around 25 billion euros, and the resulting company will boast a global workforce of close to 140,000 employees. “Together Continental and Siemens VDO Automotive AG, two companies rich in tradition and endowed with an enormous performance capability, have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to forge a global frontrunner in the automotive supplier sector,” said Continental Executive Board chairman Manfred Wennemer. “By joining forces, pooling our innovative prowess and allying our leading positions worldwide in key market segments like safety, chassis, powertrain systems and telematics/infotainment, we are extremely well placed to take on the global competition and to profit from all mega-trends in our branch of industry.

27th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Boosts Presence in Emerging Markets through Acquisition

Product News

Continental’s Automotive Systems Division is bolstering its brakes systems capabilities in both Europe and in emerging markets, particularly Asia, through the acquisition of drum brake manufacturer Automotive Products Italia S.r.l. from the Australian Pacifica Group Limited. Based in Cairo Montenotte, in the Italian province of Savona, Automotive Products Italia employs approximately 500 people and since its establishment in 1984 has grown into a business with annual sales (2006) of 79 million euros.

This acquisition is not the beginning of relations between Automotive Products Italia and Continental Automotive Systems – the two parties have been involved in a technical and marketing cooperative agreement for the past decade. Automotive Products Italia has grown to become Europe’s second largest producer of drum brakes; approximately 5.8 million drum and park brakes were manufactured at the company’s 17,000 square metre facility in Savona last year, and counted amongst the firm’s OEM customers were major manufacturers such as Fiat, Ford, Renault/Nissan, Toyota, Land Rover, Mazda and General Motors. Upon regulatory approval the company will be integrated into the Hydraulic Brake Systems business unit of Continental Automotive Systems.

19th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodway Eyes Up Further Expansion

Product News

Malaysia’s Goodway Integrated Industries has expanded its rubber compound and tyre retreading business through the acquisition of a number of assets from Autoways (Malaya) and the turnaround of operations at retreader Big Wheel (Sabah), acquired by Goodway in August 2005.

The Autoways assets acquisition cost Goodway £1.13 million and will boost the company’s rubber compound and retreading capacity. Goodway says it is now considering the possibility of expanding overseas, including to the Middle East and Africa.

10th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

TecCom Reports 35 per cent Increase in Aftermarket Orders

Product News

In the last 12 months the number of queries and orders submitted to the TecCom automotive aftermarket platform was up by around 35 per cent, reaching almost 5.5 million transactions every month. In the same period of time the number of registered dealers around the world increased from 7,200 to more than 8,300. “The most significant increases were recorded in new markets such as Turkey, Russia and China. In some cases growth even topped 100 per cent on the back of new partnerships being established”, explains Jürgen Buchert, CEO of TecCom GmbH.

TecCom recorded gains of more than 30 per cent in France and the Netherlands. Growth in the Netherlands was mainly attributable to the acquisition of the local platform Auto-XS, while French gains can be traced back to good cooperation with GOLDA. In the G/S/A (Germany, Switzerland/Austria) region TecCom saw the number of registered dealers and business relations head north by about 20 percent. David Winter, TecCom’s Sales Manager International, is satisfied: “We made considerable gains in all markets last year. We are particularly happy to have generated growth on the back of cooperations with key buying organisations in Great Britain – IFA (Independent Motor Factors Association), GAU (Group Auto Union) and UKPA (UK Parts Alliance). The developments seen in the past months have shown that there is only one direction for our growth to head: up.”

5th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Ex-Carlisle Workers Protest in Trinidad

Product News

Former employees of a Trinidad & Tobago based tyre factory acquired by Carlisle Tire & Rubber in 1995 have protested over severance money owed to them for more than a dozen years. Earlier this year the country’s Industrial Court ordered Carlisle, who took over the assets of the Caribbean Tyre Company, to pay more than TTD$10.6 million (£854,000) in outstanding benefits, with a payment deadline of February 23. To date Carlisle has not complied with the court’s ruling.

The workers involved in the current protest were employed by the Caribbean Tyre Company Ltd, who made them redundant in 1995. The company paid 70 per cent of the workers’ severance with the promise that Carlisle would re-employ all of them. Carlisle closed down operations in Trinidad & Tobago in September 2003, allegedly after workers began protesting working conditions and outstanding wages. About 400 employees lost their jobs during the closure.

4th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Punch International Acquires Wheel Manufacturer BBS

News

Belgium’s Punch International NV, the diversified industrial holding company headquartered in Sint-Martens-Latem, announced on June 29 that it has taken over BBS, the German developer and producer of lightweight wheels for premium segment sports and passenger cars. BBS is currently listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges but was declared bankrupt in May 2007, however the company is now expected to make a positive contribution to the Punch group’s net profit as soon as it the acquisition is finalised.

Punch will take over all the bankrupt company’s assets as of 1 August 2007, subject to the transaction’s approval by the antitrust authority. The acquired assets will include those of BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik AG and BBS Motorsport & Engineering GmbH, the brand name BBS and the activities of the company’s plants in Schiltach and Herbolzheim, Germany. The transaction also comprises the takeover of all the shares of the American sales subsidiary BBS of America, Inc and the redemption of all lease contracts in progress. BBS has an extensive portfolio of technology patents, which is also included in the takeover. Funds for the acquisition are drawn from a combination of the proceeds of the private placement dated 7 June 2007 and a bank loan. The activities taken over will continue under the name BBS International GmbH and become integrated in the Punch Motive division of the Punch group.

29th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Watts Polymers Sold to Berwin Group

Product News

Watts Industrial Polymers Ltd has been sold to Berwin Group Ltd. According to Berwin, the acquisition, combined with the existing Berwin Group business, further consolidates Berwin’s position as the UK’s largest rubber custom compounder and broadens its coverage in business segments and markets not previously covered by Berwin.

This transaction will allow Watts of Lydney Group Ltd to concentrate on developing its two main business areas: Watts Industrial Tyres Plc a leading global provider of industrial tyres and service to the materials handling market, and Watts Truck Centre Ltd a regional truck and van dealership operating in Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester and Yate.

Manufacturing of the Watts compound range will remain at its Lydney site and Berwin is confident the acquisition will enable the Lydney site to continue its growth and further expand its global presence.

26th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Former Conti Boss Urban Dies

Product News

Former Continental CEO Horst W. Urban passed away on June 21, three weeks after celebrating his 71st birthday. Mr. Urban had been battling the affects of lung cancer, for which he underwent surgery last year.

Together with colleague Helmut Werner, Horst Urban developed proactive strategies to strengthen the tyremaker’s position, including the acquisition of rival brands Semperit and General Tire. During the early 1990s Urban vigorously resisted a takeover bid for Continental launched by Pirelli. Following the successful conclusion of this corporate struggle he tendered his resignation as company CEO in 1991, reportedly due to differences of opinion with supervisory board chairman Dr. Ulrich Weiß. At this time Dr. Weiß also held a position on the board of Deutsche Bank and was, amongst other roles, responsible for the bank’s business in Italy, and was thus considered to possess a more sympathetic view of the Pirelli takeover attempt than Mr. Urban.

26th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

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