Could a conglomerate of South Korean interests be looking at acquiring Kumho Tire? According to the Financial Times, local publication the Korea Economic Daily reports that a conglomerate has shown interest in doing just that through a rights offering.
A newspaper report suggesting that Kumho Tire may be placed under a court-led debt restructuring programme prompted an almost 30 per cent drop in the value of shares in the tyre maker yesterday. Reuters writes that, according to an article published by South Korean newspaper Segye Ilbo, main Kumho Tire creditor the Korea Development Bank is considering requesting a pre-packaged restructuring plan. Such a plan may result in Kumho entering into court-administered receivership.
If Pirelli’s sale to the ChemChina-led consortium in 2015, along with the legal and integration work in 2016 wasn’t enough, 2017 is proving to have been another complex and busy year for Pirelli. The last 12 months have seen the company pass two key landmarks in its post-acquisition strategy: the separation of the industrial tyre business (including industrial, truck, OTR and agricultural operations) into the new Prometeon Tyre Group in the first part of year; and the successful re-listing of the Pirelli in the autumn. The latest news is that Pirelli’s major shareholder – Marco Polo International – has increased its shareholding in Pirelli following the IPO by exercising a greenshoe option.
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Michelin has announced the sale of its 40 per cent equity in Double Coin (Anhui) Warrior Tire Co. Ltd. Specifically, as the tyre maker reported today, Huayi Group (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. will purchase 30 per cent of the equity in the business held by Compagnie Financière Michelin SCmA, and Double Coin Tire Group Co., Ltd. will purchase the remaining ten per cent of the equity, currently held by Michelin (China) Investment Co. Ltd.
Pirelli shares that J.P. Morgan Securities plc has partially exercised a greenshoe option in which 18,904,836 shares, an amount equal to around 1.9 per cent of Pirelli’s share capital, were purchased out of a total of 50,000,000 option shares. Upon completion, Marco Polo International Italy S.p.A. will hold 631,095,164 Pirelli ordinary shares, and therefore a 63 per cent share in Pirelli.
Last month, Bridgestone Corporation acquired 1.976 million of its common shares. The company reports that the acquisition of these shares cost more than 10.56 billion yen (£70.4 million).
Watling Tyres, which has been growing in recent years, has been restructured in moves that sees the directors take over 100 per cent of the company. The firm had previously been 49 per cent owned by universal. Watling Tyres was ranked 19th on Tyres & Accessories’2017 leading UK tyre retailers ranking.
Pirelli is set sell up to 40 per cent of its equity capital in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Milan stock exchange in October.
Directors of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company have declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.10 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable 1 September 2017 to shareholders of record on 1 August 2017. The payout represents an annual rate of $0.40 cents per share.
Michelin has filed a draft simplified cash public tender offer with the French securities regulator (Autorité des Marchés Financiers – AMF) through its 99.99 per cent-owned subsidiary Compagnie Financière Michelin SCmA (CFM), acting in concert with the Ivory Coast company SIFCA, to acquire the 1,042,324 shares in Société Internationale de Plantations d’Hévéas (SIPH) not currently held by the concert parties, at a price of €85 per SIPH share.
Arconic Inc., the company created to house the Alcoa wheel business and other metal manufacturing functions following the separation of Alcoa Inc. into two entities last November, is divesting its stake in the other entity, Alcoa Corporation, which is engaged in the mining and manufacture of raw aluminium. The debt-for-equity exchange of Alcoa Corporation common stock will see 12,958,767 shares swapped for debt held by Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC.
Bridgestone Corporation intends to acquire up to 50 million of its shares, or 6.4 per cent of its outstanding treasury stock. In a statement, the company said it would spend up to 150 billion yen (£1.1 billion) in the buyback, which will take place between 20 February and 22 December 2017. The acquired shares, along with a further 20 million shares, will be cancelled, effective 19 January 2018.
Continental intends to divest its shareholding in General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Ltd. The company owns a 9.78 per cent share in Pakistan’s largest tyre maker through Continental Global Holding Netherlands B.V., and according a notification sent by General Tyre and Rubber to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Continental Global Holding Netherlands intends to sell its entire shareholding “as soon as practically and economically feasible.”
A final round of bids for the 42.01 per cent controlling stake in Kumho Tire will be held on 12 January, and according to the Korea Development Bank and other creditors, a shortlist of five preferred bidders are in the running to acquire this share should chairman Park Sam-koo decline a prior offer to match the highest bid and purchase the 42.01 per cent stake himself. The five contenders are Apollo Tyres, Shanghai Aerospace Industry Corp. (SAIC), Jiangsu GPRO Group, Shandong Linglong Tire and Doublestar Tyre.
Russia’s PJSC Tatneft has entered into an agreement to sell its shares in chemical and synthetic rubber manufacturer PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim to the Taif group of companies. The transaction, which will see 402,813,999 ordinary shares, is valued at approximately 32 billion roubles (£422.6 million).
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