Apollo buys German tire retailer Reifencom

HANNOVER, Germany (Nov. 16, 2015) — India's Apollo Tyres Ltd. has bought Reifencom G.m.b.H. of Hannover, considered one of the largest tire distributors in Germany with an online presence in six European countries and 37 retail stores in Germany.

Apollo is paying $49 million for Reifencom, which Apollo Vice Chairman and Managing Director Neeraj Kanwar calls a “strategic fit in further growing our European business.

“[The acquisition] will enable Apollo to improve its mix of distribution channels in Germany and Europe and aid in increasing the visibility of Apollo and Vredestein tires in the offline and especially the fast-growing online retail space.”

Apollo attrbutes the success of Reifencom to its highly efficient logistics system, which ensures a high degree of availability of tires and rims, even during busy periods like spring and autumn. Further, Apollo said Reifencom's objective is to provide world-class products and services at very competitive prices.

Reifencom's annual sales are approximately $160 million. Apollo derives about a quarter of its global sales, or roughly $595 million a year, from business in Europe, where it operates a dozen national sales companies under the Apollo Vredestein B.V. umbrella and has one factory, in Enschede, Netherlands, and one under construction near Gyöngyöshalász, Hungary.

Reifencom itself is the result of a merger of two separate companies — Reifencom G.m.b.H. of Bielefeld, Germany, and Reifencom G.m.b.H. of Hannover. It was created by their respective managers, Heiko Knigge and Olaf Sockel, according to the firm's website, to establish a company “with a balanced success that is visible even in times of a weaker economy.”

Besides its 37 retail/service center locations in Germany Reifencom does business online in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, Apollo said, although the company lists delivery charges on its website to eight other European nations.

Reifencom lists about 2,500 tire fitting partners in Germany and 2,600 more in other countries.

“It is our privilege to join hands with Apollo Tyres, where the team shares our passion for providing world-class products and customer service,” Messrs Sockel and Knigge said.