NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 23, 2016) – Bridgestone Americas has reached an agreement to divest its business unit in Venezuela — Bridgestone Firestone Venezolana C.A. (BFVZ) — to the Corimon Group, a Venezuelan capital investment enterprise.
The divestiture follows the deconsolidation of BFVZ in the third quarter of 2015 and, Bridgestone said, is a strategic decision to prioritize its growth and investment in other Latin American markets, though the company did not specify what that would entail and which markets it would pursue.
Due to the company's Venezuela operations being deconsolidated from Bridgestone Americas last year, the divestiture will have no financial impact on it, according to the Nashville-based tire maker.
“Bridgestone is proud of the 62 years it served the Venezuelan people and wishes the best of success to the new owners of the company and to employees as they begin this next phase under new management,” Bridgestone said in a press release.
The company did not say how many workers it had in the BFVZ operation or what would happen to them.
BFVZ will now become Alice Neumáticos de Venezuela, a company managed by the Corimon Group. On its website, the company describes itself and its subsidiaries as “a Venezuelan corporation founded in 1949 dedicated to the production and marketing of a wide variety of industrial products related to the world of paints, chemical products and flexible packages — always contributing to the national development with the awareness of our responsibility towards the environment, the community in which we operate, clients, employees and shareholders.”