Michelin squelches Nexen JV speculation
ERJ staff report (TB)
Seoul, South Korea-- Group Michelin is denying it is engaged in discussions with South Korea's Nexen Tire Corp. about a possible joint venture project, despite a public filing by Nexen in Korea indicating so.
News of the two tyre makers' potentially working together surfaced earlier this week after Nexen notified the Korean Stock Exchange it was exploring such a possibility.
Nexen issued the filing in response to rumours in the press, but said there is no more information to add at this stage. The company expects to make an announcement in due course.
Nexen's filing with the stock exchange coincided with Michelin's divesting its 9.98-percent shareholding in fellow Korean tyre maker Hankook Tire Co. Ltd.
Michelin and Nexen predecessor company Woosung Industrial Co. Ltd. have worked together in the past. In 1988 Michelin and Woosung set up a joint manufacturing venture in Korea. That venture lasted four years before the partners dissolved it, citing “profound differences of opinion on the strategic development†of the venture.
From Tire Business (A Crain publication)
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