Apollo Tyres sells part of South African business
Apollo Tyres, a manufacturer of automotive tubes and tyres, has entered into an agreement to sell parts of its South African business to Japanese trading company Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI). The deal worth $60 million also includes the Ladysmith passenger car tyre plant.
Apollo Tyres will continue to own its Durban plant, which manufactures truck & bus radial (TBR) tyres and off-highway tyres (OHT) used in the mining and construction industries. SRI takes over Apollo Tyres South Africa (ATSA) and also gets rights to the Dunlop brand that Apollo was selling in the African market. Apollo Tyres acquired Dunlop Tyres International Ltd (South Africa) in 2006 for $64.4 million in all-cash deal. It was later renamed 'Apollo Tyres South Africa Pvt Ltd'.
Commenting on this development, Onkar S Kanwar, chairman, Apollo Tyres Ltd. said, "This partnership with SRI is a win-win situation for both organisations. SRI gets a manufacturing location on the continent and control over the Dunlop brand which they also use in many other countries across the world. Apollo retains one plant in South Africa and has the ability to develop further the markets for its global brands -- Apollo and Vredestein."
Apollo Tyres will continue to sell Apollo and Vredestein â€" a brand it acquired in 2009 â€" tyres in Africa through its own network. "We have retained the manufacturing facility in Durban, as we would like to increase the presence of in-house Apollo and Vredestein branded tyres in Africa, which we have already been selling in South Africa for the past few years," Kanwar added. The company has a manufacturing presence in Asia, Europe and Africa and exports to over 118 countries.