Italian OTR tyre maker buys Chinese factory

Verona, Italy -- Italian off-the-road (OTR) tyre maker Mai Group has acquired the OTR tyre-related assets of Shandong Jinyu Tyre Co. Ltd. in Shandong Province, China, to support its Asian market development strategy.

Terms of the deal, which closed in May, were not disclosed. The acquisition will enable Mai Group to accelerate its cross-platform radial strategy for OTR and high-speed crane tyre applications, as well as developing its Asian business, according to said Ian Thomas, director, sales and marketing for Mai.

Mai has renamed the Dongying, Shandong, operation Mai (Shandong) Radial Tyre Co. Ltd. The transaction will provide Mai with capacity for up to 20 000 OTR radials a year but does not include any of Shandong Jinyu's truck tyre activities, Mr. Thomsas said.

“This state-of-the-art manufacturing plant and its strong technology assets will enable Mai Group to innovate on our existing product platforms while reducing time-to-market and increasing value,” Mr. Thomas said. “This acquisition will also further increase the competitiveness of our Turkish manufacturing plant with synergies across the product range.”

Mai will make the Maxam brand at the Dongying factory.

Mai Group's other tyre factory, operating in a joint venture called Uzmai International S.r.l., opened in 2004 in Izmit, Turkey. Mai Group was founded in 1953 as a retreader of agricultural tires.

Shandong Jinyu was established in 1995 and markets under the trade names Jinyu, Golden Road and Joykin, according to information posted on the firm's Web site.

Mai did not disclose acquisition's anticipated effect on its annual sales.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)