SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick (March 19, 2002)—Coast Tire & Auto Service Ltd. is acquiring a retread plant and two commercial outlets in the Maritime Provinces from Goodyear Canada Inc. for an undisclosed sum.
Goodyear Canada, meanwhile, will become a minority shareholder in Coast Tire when the deal closes April 1. The tire maker will own a 49-percent stake in the dealership. The commercial stores are located in Bathurst, New Brunswick and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, while the retread plant is in Moncton, New Brunswick.
The acquisition will give Coast Tire a total of 19 stores in 13 communities, all of which will fly the Coast Tire banner. The dealership will employ more than 200.
At the same time, Ronald Outerbridge, vice president and general manager of Coast Tire, is purchasing majority ownership of the dealership from Malcolm Baxter in a deal that also will close April 1. Terms were undisclosed.
Mr. Outerbridge, 37, has worked for Coast Tire for the past six years and has helped the dealership grow by acquisition.Mr. Baxter, who founded Coast Tire in 1984, will retire from the tire industry.
Mr. Outerbridge said the pending purchase of the Goodyear Canada stores and retread plant make sense for Coast Tire, which is predominantly a Goodyear dealer and partner.
“We've taken over a lot of Goodyear stores in the past,” Mr. Outerbridge said. “A lot of our growth in the past was taking over Goodyear corporate stores. So it was a natural progression.
“In the region of Canada we're in, we're very dominant so it's easier for Goodyear to allow us to handle the distribution of tires vs. them trying to do it corporately,” he added