In December 2013, the Republic of Serbia’s Privatization Agency decided to terminate its sale agreement covering a number of assets from state-owned company Trayal Corporation as the buyer, Bulgarian power company Brikel EAD, was deemed to have failed to fulfil its contractual obligations. Trayal was sold to Brikel in late 2006.
On 17 January Cooper Tire & Rubber completed its acquisition of the former Trayal manufacturing plant assets in Kruševac, Serbia. A formal signing ceremony was held to mark the official start of Cooper Tire Serbia; this was attended by Serbian President Boris Tadić, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković, US Ambassador Mary Warlick, along with Roy Armes, Chairman, President and CEO of Cooper Tire. During the ceremony Armes stated that Cooper elected to invest in Serbia not only because of its significant economic potential, but also for its quality workforce, geographical advantages and Serbian government support.
Serbia’s second largest tyre manufacturer, Trayal Corp., is soon to be sold and therefore privatised. According to reports, the privatisation agency in Serbia has announced a public tender to bid for the traditional state-owned company. The Bulgarian power supplier Brikel EAD has now made the highest offer and will soon start to negotiate the details of the deal with the agency, local media sources wrote. The bid was £8.2 million for a majority share plus modernisation investments of up to £16.9 million.
