Report: Apollo eyes Kumho purchase

New Delhi – Indian tire maker Apollo Tyres is considering to bid for South Korean Kumho Tire, according to a report by India’s Economic Times on 14 Nov.

The report, quoting “sources” said the Indian company was competing with Chinese rivals including Shandong Linglong Tyre and ChemChina to acquire South Korea's second largest tire maker.

Apollo declined to comment on the news.

This partly conflicts with Reuters, which reported on 10 Nov that ChemChina had denied being among the bidders for Kumho Tire.

Citing “a source with direct knowledge of the matter,” Reuters said about 10 parties had already expressed interest in buying a controlling stake in Kumho Tire.

As ERJ has reported, Kumho Tire’s creditors began a sell-off process for the tire-maker with a public notice of sale on 20 Sept.

The companies aim to pick a “prime bidder” within the first half of 2017.

According to the Korea Herald, nine creditors hold a combined 42.1 percent of Kumho Tire, with Woori Bank and the Korea Development Bank owning 14% and 13.5%, respectively.

Earlier in June, the newspaper said that Germany’s Continental AG and the French tire group Michelin were among those bidding companies to buy South Korea’s number 2 tire-maker.

The report put an estimated price of €7.6 billion for Kumho.

Also among the interested parties is the Chinese state-owned ChemChina, which has been on the acquisition trail recently.

According to Economic Times, if Apollo is successful in its bid to buy Kumho, the acquisition can bring its ranking up to the seventh, from its current position of 17th on ERJ's Global Ranking.