Michelin completes purchase of Indonesian tire maker

Clermont-Ferrand, France - Michelin has completed the acquisition of 88% control of Indonesia’s PT Multistrada Ara Sarana Tbk., producer and marketer of the Achilles and Corsa tire brands as well as a number of private brands.

Michelin paid $480 million (€425 million) for the publicly-listed shares, held by an investment group, the company announced 8 March.

The French tire maker is now launching a public offer for the remaining shares in Multistrada, at the same price it is offering the investor group.

The deal provides Michelin with annual capacity of more than 180 kilotonnes of production and strengthens its presence in the fast-growing Indonesian market.

It also includes a 20% stake in the Indonesian retailer PT Penta Artha Impressi and 123 acres of available land, according to Michelin.

Multistrada reported sales of $281 million in fiscal 2017, making it the 62nd largest tire maker worldwide, according to ERJ’s annual global rankings.

The company manufactures 11 million passenger car tires, 9 million two-wheeler tires and 250,000 truck tires per year.

Michelin said the transaction would help it strengthen its presence in the “highly promising but local-production-dominated” Indonesian market.

The group plans convert production gradually to tier 2 Michelin brands, from the company’s existing tier 3 passenger tire brands.

This will allow more tier 1 production at Michelin’s other Asian plants and support growing demand for tier 2 tires in Europe, North America and Asia.

Multistrada will be Michelin’s seventh tire plant in Asia-Pacific, joining those in China (two plants), India and Thailand (three plants).

Michelin also owns a 10% stake in Indonesia’s PT Gajah Tunggal, from which it sources tires.