75 GSF Car Parts (GSF) branches have merged with The Parts Alliance, taking the network to well over 300. 160 of these are under common ownership. Together they give the Solihull-based business group increased coverage in the UK and Ireland.
CNRC (ChemChina), Camfin and its shareholders have announced that all the necessary antitrust and regulatory approvals for ChemChina’s purchase of the majority of Pirelli (as announced on 22 March 2015) have been obtained. Therefore the aforementioned parties have agreed to complete the transaction on 11 August 2015. As a result, the pre-announced mandatory tender offer for the remaining shares (at 15 euros each) will be triggered.
MAM Software has announced the acquisition of Origin Software Solutions Ltd (“Origin”), a UK-based provider of e-commerce solutions for the automotive aftermarket.
A couple of months ago we discussed the “restructuring” of relatively large and modern Chinese manufacturer Deruibao Tire. Back then, Qingdao Doublestar was top of the list of firms connected with an acquisition/cooperation/merger rescue orchestrated by the local government. A month later government-owned ChemChina announced that it was buying Pirelli. This latter point has been covered in some depth in the pages of Tyres & Accessories, especially in our April edition. The Pirelli/ChemChina story will no-doubt garner more attention as the very complex outworkings of the deal are walked out, but what remains of interest is the way in which both the local Chinese market and the global industry are engaged in a period of both parallel and inter-connected consolidation.
Michelin chief operating officer, Florent Menegaux told Tyres & Accessories that the manufacturer would promote synergies with ATS Euromaster following its acquisition of Blackcircles.com. Speaking to Tyrepress following the announcement of its £50 million purchase, Michelin’s chief operating officer said that the UK’s biggest online tyre retail operation would gain “access to ATS Euromaster branches in the UK”, which numbered 343 in the recent T&A survey of the retail landscape.
Michelin has bought Blackcircles.com, the number one internet tyre sales company in the United Kingdom, for £50 million. Based in Edinburgh, Blackcircles.com generated £28 million in revenue in 2013. Run by Mike Welch, its founder, Blackcircles.com has enjoyed growth of around 20 per cent per annum since 2008. The company reports that the first quarter of 2015 saw the company achieve revenues 34 per cent higher than Q1 2014.
Trelleborg has officially finalized the acquisition of Armstrong Tyres, an Australian agricultural tyre service and distribution company. According to the company, the transaction will be consolidated as of 10 April 2015. The acquired operation has its head office in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. Sales in 2014 amounted to approximately 50 million Swedish krone. The acquisition, which is described as a “bolt-on” reportedly comes as part of Trelleborg’s strategy to strengthen its positions in “attractive market segments”. This concludes the purchase that was announced in an acquisition statement published on 31 March 2015.
In case you haven’t heard, as much as 65 per cent of Pirelli is in the process of being sold to ChemChina. It’s a complex plan and there’s a long road ahead, but the deal has been done and so takeover wheels are in motion (see page 28 for complete coverage of this part of the story). So what’s next? The deal can’t fail to have an impact at Pirelli, but what about the other top five tyre manufacturers and beyond? We hinted at market consolidation in this column last month, with reference to restructuring proceedings at Shandong Deruibao Tire Co., Ltd and possible contagion in China; and Pirelli CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera made the market aware of that he was planning to sell his stake within two years in January 2014. But few would have named this particular bidder and this particular timing. Now we are faced with the possibility, even the likelihood that the Pirelli/ChemChina deal is going to precipitate further micro and macro consolidation within the tyre market – even a re-shuffle of the tyre industry’s top 10.
The Alliance Automotive Group has acquired the United Aftermarket Network (UAN) from shareholders Andrew and Rachael Dickinson. As a result of the acquisition, Jim Mazza, the current managing director of Groupauto, will move to a new role of managing director of Alliance Automotive Group UK trading groups. A new Groupauto MD will be recruited, Alliance adds. Andrew and Rachael Dickinson will remain with the business to transfer ownership efficiently, while Phil Dodd will immediately fill the Managing Director’s position at UAN. Both UAN and Groupauto will continue to operate as separate networks; Alliance says both brands will play to their strengths.
In December 2013, the Republic of Serbia’s Privatization Agency decided to terminate its sale agreement covering a number of assets from state-owned company Trayal Corporation as the buyer, Bulgarian power company Brikel EAD, was deemed to have failed to fulfil its contractual obligations. Trayal was sold to Brikel in late 2006.
The legal dispute between Apollo Tyres and Cooper Tire & Rubber has now ended following the final dismissal of litigation filled by Cooper Tire against Apollo.
The Parts Alliance has been recognised for providing the ‘Best UK Automotive Transactions in 2014’ in Deal Feed International’s inaugural Sector Success Awards. The website’s new business awards examine mergers and acquisitions across the globe, asking a panel of financial professionals and writers to judge award winners across various segments. The Parts Alliance’s victory comes on the back of “the group’s rapid growth and financial performance as well as other key strengths such as customer service, employee development and overall strategy,” according to the Alliance’s statement.
The German Federal Cartel Office has decided that no further proceedings are necessary prior to granting approval for Michelin’s planned acquisition of Ihle Holding AG, parent company of tyre wholesaler Ihle Baden-Baden AG. In an official notification, the Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) reported that the acquisition is seen as posing no problem.
A new “heavyweight” in the automotive components sector has been created today with the acquisition of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. by ZF Friedrichshafen AG. TRW announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with ZF Friedrichshafen, which will see all outstanding TRW shares acquired for US$105.60 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.5 billion. The announcement that TRW is changing hands followed a separate statement from ZF Friedrichshafen announcing the sale of its 50 per cent share in the ZF Lenksysteme GmbH joint venture to partner Robert Bosch GmbH for an undisclosed sum; this transaction is said to have been made to satisfy antitrust requirements prior to the acquisition of TRW.
A second former Unipart Automotive director has been recruited by The Parts Alliance. Joining south west regional director Paul Dineen, James Geldart will be responsible for the Eastern Alliance’s 21 branches, serving independent garages in London and the South East of England. Geldart was previously a divisional director with Unipart Automotive (UA), and was appointed with effect from Monday, 1 September.
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