The big man with the rolls — otherwise known as Bibendum, or the Michelin man — got bigger in 2018. And who knows what might happen in 2019.
Group Michelin made two major acquisitions in the past year, both with huge implications for the OTR sector.
First, the French tire maker acquired conveyor belt and polymer goods maker Fenner P.L.C. in a cash deal worth about $1.7 billion.
Fenner, a producer of conveyor belt and reinforced polymer products for the mining and general industrial markets, posted revenues of more than $900 million for its most recent fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2017.
Fenner operates two divisions: Engineered Conveyor Solutions (ECS) and Advanced Engineered Products (AEP). ECS is a producer of heavy conveyor belts and AEP is a producer of diversified polymer-engineered products.
With the ink barely dry on that deal, Michelin announced in July that it was purchasing OTR/industrial tire and wheel producer Camso Ltd.
The $1.45 billion deal closed in late December, allowing Michelin to begin the process of melding its own OTR tire activities (farm, earthmover, off-road truck, etc.) with Camso's into a new division to be based in Quebec that will oversee a global business with 26 plants, roughly 12,000 employees and annual sales exceeding $2 billion.
Michelin said it has identified significant opportunities to increase sales and reduce costs, thereby unlocking up to $55 million in synergies by 2021.