Pirelli buys leading Swedish tyre retailer (updated)

ERJ staff report (TB)

Milan, Italy (June 13, 2012) - Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. has acquired Däckia Holding A.B., a Swedish tyre distributor with 66 retail locations and annual sales of $130 million.

Acquiring Däckia gives Pirelli a distribution platform that will allow it to accelerate its penetration of the Nordic countries, a natural market for winter tyres, which contain a high level of high-performance components, the company said.

Pirelli paid about $89 million for the business, which until mid-2009 was a subsidiary of Goodyear-Dunlop Europe B.V. The company's sales represent about 13 percent of the Swedish retail market, Pirelli said.

Däckia also has 50 distribution partners throughout Sweden, which give the company wide and thorough territorial coverage, Pirelli said.

More than 60 percent of the 4.4 million car tyres sold in Sweden last year were winter tyres, Pirelli said. The winter segment grew 5 percent last year in a segment that otherwise was flat.

Pirelli said it will supply the market in Sweden largely with tyres produced in Russia by its new joint ventures there, especially in Voronezh.

Pirelli bought the dealership from Procuritas Capital Investors IV L.P., which had acquierd it in 2009 from Goodyear Dunlop Europe, which at that time said it would remain a minority owner and key supplier to Däckia.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)