Pirelli separates from industrial tires unit to become “pure consumer tire company”

Milan, Italy – Pirelli & C. S.p.A.'s split into separate consumer and industrial tire companies took another key step this week with the renaming of the industrial tire business unit as "Prometeon Tyre Group S.r.l."

Pirelli disclosed this move and others — including the intention to effect a public offering in 2018 for Pirelli as a "pure consumer" tire company — in its fiscal 2016 financial results statement.

Pirelli also disclosed a revised shareholding structure, noting that a 52-percent shareholding in Prometeon (PTG) owned by Pirelli's TP Industrial Holding unit was reassigned to Marco Polo Industrial Holding S.p.A., the investment vehicle set up in 2015 to facilitate China National Chemical Corp.'s acquisition of Pirelli.

Marco Polo, in turn, is owned by CNRC (65 percent), Cam Finanziaria S.p.A. (22.4 percent) and Long Term Investment (12.6 percent), according to Pirelli.

Last October, following its acquisition by ChemChina, Pirelli swapped 10% of its industrial tires business, called Pirelli Industrial, with 80% of the Chinese state-owned company’s Aeolus passenger car tire business.

More recently, in March, a 52% shareholding in PTG owned by Pirelli company TP Industrial Holding was assigned to Marco Polo – an investment vehicle set up to facilitate ChemChina’s acquisition of Pirelli.

Meanwhile, 38% of shares in PTG have been sold to a Chinese investment fund called Cinda for €226 million.

The new ownership structures are intended to enable both Pirelli and PTG to pursue their own independent paths.

“Pirelli will be entirely focused on the consumer business, thus becoming the sole ‘pure consumer tire company’ in the sector, in view of its future listing on the stock exchange,” the company stated in the financial statement.

The Italian company said the move would strengthen its strategic position in higher profitability segments of the consumer tire market.

Additionally, Pirelli said that its business model would be more focused on the end-consumer and that it would exploit business opportunities offered by “new and sustainable mobility.”

Another area of focus, said Pirelli, will be on “totally digitised industrial, commercial and management processes.”