Pirelli takes over in Egypt CAIRO, Egypt—Pirelli S.p.A. signed an agreement June 14 making it majority owner of Egypt's Alexandria Tire Co., and will invest $90 million over four years to increase the company's capacity to produce all-steel radial truck tires.
According to the terms of the deal, Pirelli will pay $50 million for a 47-percent share—increasing its ownership to 58 percent—and has an option on a further 8-percent stake. The rest is held by local institutional and private investors.
Pirelli originally helped engineer and establish the factory, in Cairo's Amreya industrial district, four years ago. It uses Pirelli manufacturing technology and produces about 330,000 tires a year with 700 employees.
The acquisition will help Pirelli strengthen its presence in North Africa and the Middle East, as well as provide additional capacity to service Europe, according to Giovanni Ferrario, general manager of Pirelli's tire activities.
Blimp goes 'down under'
AKRON—Goodyear has launched its seventh airship, the ``Spirit of the South Pacific.'' Based in Melbourne, Australia, the new blimp's primary mission is to support South Pacific Tyres Ltd., Goodyear's 50-50 joint venture with Pacific Dunlop Ltd. of Australia.
Like the rest of Goodyear's airship fleet—three in North America, two in Europe and one in Latin America—the Australian-based blimp will provide an aerial platform for television coverage of events throughout the country, which will host the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.
The new airship began its work June 12, covering of the opening of the newly constructed Olympic stadium in Sydney.