MUMBAI, India — Apollo Tyres Ltd. is refuting published reports in India that it is considering a bid for the shares of Kumho Tire Co. Inc. that a South Korean banking consortium has for sale.
"Apollo Tyres strongly denies the story headlined 'Apollo Back in Kumho Race as Geopolitics Sours China Deal' that appeared in the print edition of 'The Economic Times' on Oct 2, 2017," Apollo said.
"The company would like to reiterate that it has no intention of making any attempts to enter the process of acquiring Kumho Tyres, as stated in the story."
The Economic Times cited "several people aware of the matter" in its reporting.
The Apollo-Kumho link surfaced following reports that China's Qingdao Doublestar Tire Co. Ltd. recently agreed to cancel a deal to buy a 42-percent stake in Kumho Tire, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap. That decision came after months of debates and dispute over trademark rights and price tag.
Apollo had been identified late in 2016 as one of a handful of suitors bidding for the minority stake in Kumho. Doublestar later emerged as the preferred bidder.