AKRON (Dec. 27, 2016) — Consolidation through mergers and acquisitions continued throughout 2016 in manufacturing, wholesale, commercial and retail.
Among the deals were three billion-dollar acquisitions:
- Icahn Enterprises L.P.'s $18.50 per-share tender offer for Pep Boys–Manny, Moe & Jack;
- Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd.'s $1.18 billion purchase of farm and OTR tire maker Alliance Tire Group B.V.; and
- Trelleborg A.B.'s $1.25 billion takeover of Czech rubber producer CGS Holding A.S., parent of tire maker Mitas A.S.
Deals worth noting, broken down by segment, include:
Retail
Icahn Enterprises bought Pep Boys–Manny, Moe & Jack in February for $1.03 billion after a four-week-long bidding war in late 2015 with Bridgestone Americas over control of the Philadelphia-based auto parts and repair chain. Icahn is proceeding with plans to merge Pep Boys with its Auto Plus parts business — also acquired in 2016 — and named Brent Windom, president and CEO of Auto Plus, to the same position with Pep Boys.
Monro Muffler Brake Inc. added 65 stores in 2016 via acquisition, including 56 in two major purchases — Clark Tire & Auto Inc. (26 stores in North Carolina) and McGee Auto Service & Tires (29 stores in Florida).
Monro's other acquisitions included: Kwik-Fit Tire & Service Inc. in Sandy Springs, Ga.; Excel Auto & Tire stores, in Rochester, Eagan and Spring Lake Park, Minn.; Harlow Tire Co. in Westland, Mich.; Express Tire Centers L.L.C. stores, in Hillsboro and Millford, N.H.; and Pioneer Tire Pros in Riverview, Fla.
TBC Corp. added 14 stores via acquisition of independent dealers or by taking over former auto repair or tire retail locations. Among the independents taken over were: Hook Tire & Service Inc., with stores in Charlotte, Huntersville and Waxhaw, N.C.; Delta Tire & Wheel, two stores in Corpus Christi, Texas; and Vrooom Auto Care's store in Arden Hills, Minn.
ATV Inc./American Tire Depot acquired Wayne's Tire & Auto Repair, a 50-year-old independent dealership with five outlets along California's Central Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The deal expanded La Mirada, Calif.-based American Tire Depot's network to 87 retail stores.
Leeds West Groups, a Big O Tires franchisee with 55 stores, acquired the headquarters building of Grease Monkey International Corp. in Greenwood, Colo., and intends to make the building its own headquarters next year.
Sullivan Tire Co. Inc. acquired Wayside Auto Services Inc. in Westford, Mass.
Off-road vehicle maker Polaris Industries Inc. bought Transamerican Auto Parts Co. (TAP), parent of 4 Wheel Parts (75 retail stores) and private brand tire and wheel distributor Pro Comp Tires.
Commercial
Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C.'s wholly owned BestDrive L.L.C. subsidiary acquired Brahler's Truckers Supply Inc. of Jacksonville, Ill., and converted Brahler's seven service locations in Illinois and eastern Missouri to BestDrive signage. By year-end, BestDrive had expanded its network of service locations to 21.
Belle Tire Distributors is merging its commercial division with Tredroc Tire Services of Elk Grove Village, Ill., creating a joint venture that will be considered among the five or six largest commercial dealerships in the U.S.
The venture, to operate under the Tredroc Tire Services name, will have 24 locations in six states — Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin — along with seven Bandag-system retread plants, the partners said.
Purcell Tire & Service Center bought Phelps Tire of Seattle for an undisclosed sum. Phelps Tire operates five commercial/retail outlets in Washington and three in Alaska, generating an estimated $20 million-plus in annual revenue. The deal includes a retread plant in Seattle.
Service Tire Truck Centers acquired All Time Tire Service Inc., a single-outlet commercial dealership in South Toms River, N.J.
Monro moved to establish a commercial business unit after taking over two commercial outlets and a retread plant that were part of the McGee Auto acquisition.
Kal Tire's Mining Tire Group acquired the tire services business of Klinge & Co. Pty. Ltd. in Australia.
Wholesale
Singapore-based tire distributor Omni United Pte. Ltd. acquired A to Z Tire & Battery Inc. of Amarillo, Texas, and its 21 distribution locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Texas.
Montreal-based Groupe Touchette Inc. acquired Dealer Tire Canada U.L.C., the Canadian arm of Cleveland-based Dealer Tire L.L.C., in order to expand and improve its ability to service car dealer networks across Canada.
The deal, for which no financial details were disclosed, expanded Touchette's logistics network to more than 25 warehouse distribution centers.
Touchette operates two tire distribution sell-out programs, called TireLink and DT Tire, and has four retail dealership groups — Tireland and Tire Partners in western Canada, and IciPneu and Touchette pneu Mécanique in Quebec.
Industrial tire producer Global Rubber Industries Pvt. Ltd. of Sri Lanka acquired industrial tire distributors Leffler Industrial Tire & Rubber Track Inc. of Indianapolis and Kentucky Industrial Tire Inc. of Louisville.
Monro moved into the wholesale business with its acquisition of Clark Tire & Auto in western North Carolina, which included four wholesale tire distribution centers — in Charlotte and Connover, N.C.; Greenville, S.C.; and Knoxville, Tenn. — operating under the Tires Now identity.
Manufacturing
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. bought a 65-percent interest in China's Qingdao Ge Rui Da Rubber Co. Ltd. (GRT) for about $93 million. GRT produces radial truck and bus tires for global markets at a 1-million-sq.-ft. plant in Pingdu, Qingdao Province, China.
Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C. bought Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. of Lakeville, Ind., for approximately $140 million; the acquisition supports Conti's growth strategy in the ultra-high-performance segment.
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. bought farm and OTR tire maker Alliance Tire Group B.V. (two factories in India and one in Israel) for $1.18 billion; ATG reported $529 million in sales and $95 million in operating profit in fiscal 2015.
Group Michelin acquired Levorin Pneus e Camaras, a Brazilian manufacturer of bicycle and motorcycle tires, for an undisclosed sum. Levorin generated sales of $155 million last year with 2,000 employees at plants in Sao Paulo and Manaus, Brazil, Michelin said.
Tire repair materials producer Technical Rubber Co. Inc. acquired Salvadori S.r.l., an Italian supplier of tire, retread and industrial rubber repair products and producer of equipment used in converting scrap tires and plastics to usable products. The acquisition will add rubber recycling to Tech Rubber's business mix.
Trelleborg's takeover of CGS Holding will establish Trelleborg as a global leader in agricultural tires and reinforce its position in industrial tires.
The combined tire and wheel revenue of Trelleborg and Mitas will exceed $1 billion, making it a top 30 global tire maker and perhaps the largest ag tire producer.