Goodyear to sell retail stores in New Zealand

ERJ staff report (TB)

Melbourne, Australia – Goodyear & Dunlop Tyres has agreed to sell its Beaurepaires and Goodyear Auto Service Centre retail businesses in New Zealand, comprising 52 outlets, to a New Zealand company with tire aftermarket credentials, reports Tire Business.

The deal with Beau Ideal Ltd. also would include the Beaurepaires and Goodyear Auto Service Centre retail marketing and licensing programs in New Zealand, Goodyear said. Financial details were not disclosed,

The deal apparently does not affect the Beaurepaires business in Australia, which operates more than 300 locations.

Beau Ideal Ltd. is a New Zealand company whose management has more than 25 years' tire industry experience and expertise, according to Goodyear, which did not identify any individuals associated with Beau Ideal. Several New Zealand news sources, however, named Grant Rushbrooke, founder and managing director of Tyreline Distributors Ltd. of Hamilton, New Zealand, as a principal of Beau Ideal.

Goodyear said its decision to sell comes after a lengthy review of its business strategy, which entails focusing on marketing and wholesaling tires and improving services to tire dealers and aviation customers.

The transaction is anticipated to be completed by June 30.

Beau Ideal has indicated it intends to continue operating and expanding Beaurepaires in New Zealand, Goodyear said, emphasizing choice, convenience and price competitiveness and a willingness to continue promoting Goodyear's brand awareness in the marketplace.

Campbell Gough, New Zealand sales and marketing director for Goodyear & Dunlop Tyres, said company will work with the 180 affected employees and their union to find the best solution through the consultation process.

The Beaurepaires chain dates to 1922, founded by Frank Beaurepaire, an Australian swimmer from the 1900s-20s who won three silver and three bronze medals at five Olympic Games. He established Beaurepaires Tyre Service Centre in Australia. Mr. Beaurepaire went on to found in 1933 Olympic Tire & Rubber Co., a tire manufacturer in Australia that was "amalgamated" along with the retail business in 1980 with the Dunlop Group to become Dunlop & Olympic Tyres.

Dunlop & Olympic morphed into South Pacific Tyres in 1987, and Goodyear acquired that entity in 2006. The online histories do not indicate when the first Beaurepaires outlet opened in New Zealand.