Sailun sells Kings Road Tyres for £500,000
Sailun Jinyu Group has announced that it sold its Kings Road Tyres Group (KRT Group) tyre wholesale subsidiary to KRT Holdings Ltd in a November Shanghai stock market statement.
Sailun Jinyu Group has announced that it sold its Kings Road Tyres Group (KRT Group) tyre wholesale subsidiary to KRT Holdings Ltd in a November Shanghai stock market statement.
This year Stapleton’s celebrates 80 years since Sydney Stapleton set up his business in a simple parade of shops at 195 High Street, Watford in 1937. An entrepreneur of terrific dynamism and foresight, he was among the few to spot and take advantage of the fast-growing market for tyres. A decade on, in the post WWII years, the company’s total weekly wage bill amounted to the princely sum of £20. It’s safe to say in this 80th anniversary year the wage bill’s grown considerably now Stapleton’s employs some 1,100 staff at eight regional sales offices and eleven distribution hubs nationwide. It’s also safe to suggest that Sydney Stapleton would be staggered by the scale of his old business, with a current stock capacity of 1.5 million tyres available at any given time.
A further step towards consolidation within Europe’s tyre wholesaling sector has been taken with the European Commission approving the sale of Reiff Reifen und Autotechnik to US private equity fund Bain Capital Investors LLC. The new owner states its intention to become a regional leader within this business.
Following the signing of an agreement with Sailun at the Tyrexpo Asia show in April, Tyre Trading International’s Peter-Alexander van ‘t Hof has set up a tyre distribution company in Germany. The Düsseldorf-based firm is called Reifen Kraftwerk GmbH (RKW) and has been established together with Oliver Wirt, who brings with him two decades of tyre industry sales experience, most recently for Euro Tyre in Germany. As of this month, Reifen Kraftwerk is supplying the German market from a warehouse in the Rhineland.
As a tyre wholesaler specialising in commercial tyre segments, Kirkby Tyres has progressively expanded its range of OTR tyres and wheels; the company states that its range of radial and bias tyres for earthmovers and construction vehicles is now “enormous and varied”. The wholesaler has distribution partnerships with several rising manufacturers, such as Alliance, BKT, and Double Coin, which have supported Kirkby’s competitive pricing strategy.
Italian tyre wholesaler Fintyre has a new owner. Through its Europe IV fund, private equity company Bain Capital has acquired the entire stake controlled by BlueGem Capital Partners. Bain Capital states that it will work together with Fintyre chief executive officer Mauro Pessi and the company’s management in order to further the company’s path of growth towards leadership in the areas of tyre wholesale and retail distribution in Italy in Europe. Existing Fintyre lender Blackstone Group subsidiary GSO Capital Partners will also support the wholesaler’s development plan through a unitranche debt instrument.
Almost 10 years on from the trauma of the global ‘credit crunch’ and we’re still not entirely free of the economic aftershock. The resulting times of austerity have made for tough competition for every pound in the motorist’s pocket – and the forecasts suggest even more tough times ahead. In a trade as utterly international as the tyre industry the outcome of the 23 June referendum on the EU was always going to have profound effects – and the marginal victory for the Brexit side predictably has caused dramatic weakening of the pound against both the Euro and the dollar.
Commenting the quality of car tyres available on the market in general, Stapleton’s representatives quoted a motoring journalist by way of response: “The only point of contact between your car and the road, your tyres, can save your life or end it, whether you’re an average Joe or the star of a Hollywood action franchise.’ Ryan McElroy, Carkeys.co.uk, September 2016.
Giti Tire and Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) have signed a renewed three-year exclusive distribution agreement, extending the wholesaler’s UK supply rights for GT Radial and Runway in the passenger car, 4×4 and light truck tyre segments.
The relationship between the companies began in 2010, and under the terms of the deal MTS will continue to develop the GT Radial Performance Centres (GTPCs) whilst simultaneously promoting Runway across its larger independent network.
On 5 January, Micheldever announced that it was being purchased by Sumitomo Rubber Industries of Japan (the company behind Falken, one of Micheldever’s key exclusive brands). While it was no surprise that the business had been sold, the idea that Sumitomo would be the successful bidder was not widely foreseen. With Micheldever having grown into a leading position in the UK wholesale sector with a multi-brand, independent retailer-focused strategy, the acquisition raises many questions for the business’s staff, suppliers and customers. With this in mind, a week after Sumitomo’s purchase Tyres & Accessories met with Micheldever managing director, Duncan Wilkes; wholesale director, Alan Baldwin; and wholesale marketing manager Rory Carlin to find out more about the background to the deal.
From 1 January 2017, BVF1RST, the wholesale arm of the Bandvulc Group will be the exclusive supplier of the Uniroyal truck tyre brand across the UK.
Throughout 2016 Bandvulc has introduced a new generation of tyres. These meet the modern day needs of transport companies and provide consistent performance and safety for regional applications and long-distance routes. The new steer axle FH 40, drive axle DH 40 and trailer axle TH 40 tyres boast increased mileage, wet performance and reduced rolling resistance over predecessors.
After 45 years in the tyre trade, European Tyre Distributors (ETD) founder and managing director, Marcus Reedijk has chosen to retire, triggering a transition phase in the leadership of the company,
Michelin has opened a new distribution centre for the Iberian peninsula following investment of some 32.5 million euros. The goal of the logistics centre located in Illescas, near Toledo in Spain is to optimise logistics performance in Spain, Andorra and Portugal, not to mention the Balearics, the Canaries, the Azores and Madeira.
After over a decade below the radar, Tyresoft has embarked on a marketing campaign designed to introduce the cloud-based e-commerce system to the wider tyre business. Tyres & Accessories spoke with head of business development, Tony Mann in order to find out more.
After years in the making, Stapleton’s is releasing TyreSurf – an e-commerce system designed to help tyre retailers boost profits – on a widespread basis. In short, TyreSurf acts as the retailer’s own bespoke branded, website specially created, maintained, and linked into Stapleton’s. Stapleton’s sees the latest development as “almost certainly the company’s greatest e-commerce innovation since the introduction of ProfitLink at the turn of the millennium”.
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