NEW YORK: India’s Apollo Tyres will take over US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber in a $2.5bn all-cash deal, creating the world’s seventh-largest tire maker, the two firms announced yesterday.
The companies said the takeover will combine complementary product lines and geographic coverage, making it a force with $6.6bn in sales in established markets like the United States and Europe and high-growth markets like China, India and Latin America.
Apollo will pay Cooper shareholders $35 a share, a 42.5 percent premium on Tuesday’s closing price of $24.56, they said in a statement.
“This transformational transaction provides an unprecedented opportunity to serve customers across a host of geographies in both developed and fast-growing emerging markets around the world,” said Onkar Kanwar, chairman of Apollo, which is based in Gurgaon just outside New Delhi.
AFP
