The Parts Alliance has announced its reappointment as prime supply partner to Micheldever for the next two years. The parts distributor will supply Micheldever’s national network of 61 fast fit centres with a full range of vehicle parts, covering braking, steering and suspension, emissions and general service and repair products. The Alliance estimates the deal is worth over £2 million per year.
Michelin’s LMP1 tyres, which helped Audi’s hybrid car to victory in the 90th Le Mans 24 hour race, have been put to record-breaking use by Lord Drayson. Drayson Racing Technologies’ B12 69/EV electric Le Mans Prototype set a new electric land speed record, smashing the previous 40 year-old 175mph record by 29.2mph. The record-breaking run took place at Elvington Airfield near York on the evening of 25 June, 2013.
Vysionics ITS, makers of SPECS average-speed cameras, have agreed with the Advertising Standards Authority to change their advertising claims, following a complaint from Malcolm Heymer, traffic management adviser to the Alliance of British Drivers.
Kohlberg Kravis Robert (commonly known as KKR) has confirmed reports that it is acquiring a controlling stake in Alliance Tire Group (ATG) from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus. KKR also confirmed that Yogesh Mahansaria, founder of ATG, will continue to maintain an ownership stake in the company and partner with KKR to continue to grow the business. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed and so details of current shareholdings and therefore the balance of power are not yet clear. As usual, the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory and third-party consents.
India’s Economic Times reports that private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) has agreed to buy a 90 per cent stake in Alliance Tire Group. The deal for a reported US$650 million includes an estimated $125 million in debt.
Alliance Tire Group launched four new patterns to its materials handling range of tyres at Tyrexpo Asia. All four are introductions to ATG's Galaxy range of products.
It probably won’t surprise the average motorist at all to hear the findings of a report commissioned by Kwik Fit – the number of vehicles hitting potholes has increased 143 per cent in the last two years. The studies carried out by ICM Research in January 2011 and then in March 2013 indicate that nearly 39 per cent of motorists, some 13 million people, collided with a pothole in the past 12 months, compared with 5.7 million in 2011.
Reports from India suggest private equity firm KKR and Co. is in the last stage of talks to buy as much as an 80 per cent stake Alliance Tire Group. The latest news, which follows a couple of months of speculation about the deal, values the company at around US$600 million. According to livemint.com, KKR will buy out the stake currently held by another private equity firm, Warburg Pincus Llc, as well as the minority stake held by certain other stakeholders.
At last week’s SIMA show in Paris, Alliance Tire Group launched three new patterns; the tyre maker says all three utilise state of the art IF and VF technologies, designed at the group’s research and development testing. ATG says its IF and VF products have undergone “comprehensive lab and field testing” and the range will be completed in the coming future.
The latest round of speculation associated with the sale of shares in Alliance Tire Group puts Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), Blackstone, TPG Capital and Advent International at the front of the pack. According to a Times of India report published on 20 February the firms are “set to fire bids valued at more than US$300 million to acquire majority shares in Alliance Tire Group.” Standard Chartered Private Equity is also said to be bidding.
US distributor of the Double Coin brand, the China Manufacturers Alliance, is one of the latest companies to join the Retread Tire Association. Reporting this new addition, RTA managing director Harvey Brodsky commented “We continue to be very pleased and gratified at the amount of support our exciting new association continues to receive from retreaders and others in the retread and tyre industries. Since our beginning in 2010, 298 members have joined our association and we are grateful to every one of them for their support in our ever growing association.”
After keeping mum about it for quite a while, Continental has shared that its tyres play a key role in making the London Eye spin. The 442 foot (or 135 metre, for those reading this in metric) high Ferris wheel is spun by drive systems located in towers at each end of the boarding platform; these systems’ hydraulic motors rotate the wheel via friction rollers, and Continental HSR (Heavy Steer Regional) tyres fulfil this role.
Double Coin Holdings’ US-based subsidiary, the China Manufacturers Alliance (CMA), has appointed Ken Coltrane vice-president of its consumer tyre business. Coltrane brings almost two decades of tyre industry experience to his new role; most of his tyre industry career was spent at Del-Nat Tire Corporation, where he held positions in export, purchasing, and also served as the company’s vice-president of marketing.
Several media outlets plus supporting information from Tyres & Accessories’ own sources are reporting that at least two private equity firms are preparing considering bids for Warburg Pincus LLC's majority stake in Alliance Tire Group (ATG). The potential deal is said to be valued at around US$400 million.
In his guidance for next year, Titan International’s Maurice Taylor bragged that 2012 delivered “record revenue, net income, gross margins, operation margins – just everything.” He also boasted about his golf handicap. Perhaps news of the company’s vitality and Taylor’s prowess on the green will provide some comfort to the 60 or so workers reported to have been laid off at Titan Tire’s Freeport, Illinois factory in the US. According to local newspaper the Journal Standard, the Titan International subsidiary confirmed on 17 December that employee lay-offs had occurred; while the Journal Standard says Titan officials were “unavailable for comment”, it writes that David Young, executive director of the Northwest Illinois Development Alliance, attributes the job cuts to a seasonal reduction in demand.
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