Magazine for the professional tire industry
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MTD January 2016 News/views Pep Boys says no to Bridgestone Bridgestone Americas Inc. and Icahn Enterprises Holdings LP both wanted The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack. The bidding ended when Bridgestone declined to counter Icahn's latest offer, which was $1.50 more per share than the previous bid. "Bridgestone Retail Operations LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bridgestone, will not present a counter offer to acquire The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack, in response to the most recent proposal from Icahn Enterprises LP of $18.50 per share," said Bridgestone in an offcial statement. If no other company makes an offer, Icahn will buy Pep Boys and its 800-plus stores for just over $1 billion. That's close to $165 million more than Bridgestone's original offer. However, Pep Boys will likely be forced to pay a $39.5 million termination fee to Bridgestone when it accepts Icahn Enterprises' offer. Bridgestone and Pep Boys announced a merger agreement on Oct. 26, 2015. The initial offer from Bridgestone was $15 per share. Bridgestone's takeover bid turned into a battle for control on Dec. 4, when Icahn offered $15.50 per share. Falken takes on Sumitomo name On Jan. 1, 2016, Falken Tire Corp. was no more. In its place is a new company: Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc. Richard Smallwood, for- merly CEO and president of Falken Tire Corp., is now CEO and president of Sumitomo Rubber North America. According to Falken, the dissolution of the alliance between Sumi- tomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI) — Falken's parent company — and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. led to not only the name change, but also a realignment of SRI's North America business units. The realignment is part of a long-term strategy designed to "further strengthen (the company's) competitive position in North America." Step 1: The frst step is the name change. Step 2: The second step, which is expected to occur by the end of March 2016, will be the change in name of Goodyear Dunlop Tire North America Ltd. to Sumitomo Rubber USA LLC (SRUSA). At that same time, responsibility for sales of both Dunlop light vehicle tires to Japanese OEMs and Dunlop motorcycle tires will transfer from Goodyear Dunlop/ SRUSA to Sumitomo Rubber North America (SRNA). Under the new corporate structure, SRNA will operate three separate sales divisions. 1. Dunlop Motorcycle Tire, located in Tonawanda, N.Y., will be respon- sible for Dunlop motorcycle sales to both the original equipment and replacement markets. 2. Falken Tire, located in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., will be respon- sible for replacement sales of Falken, Ohtsu and private branded products for the light vehicle and commercial markets. 3. SRNA OE Sales, located in Detroit, Mich., will be responsible for Dunlop light vehicle tires for Japanese OEMs, and Falken OE tire sales for all North America OE customers. Garage Gurus expands Federal-Mogul Motorparts Inc. is adding courses, training center locations and technician incentives to its Garage Gurus training network for motor vehicle professionals this month. Expo features recycling The first-ever annual Tire Recycling World exhibit will be part of the North American Tire and Retread Expo set for April 19-21, 2016, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, La. Carlstar has all-terrain radial Carlstar Group LLC calls its new Versa Trail ATR the first all-purpose radial tire for side-by-sides, utility vehicles and all-terrain vehicles. It will be part of the Carlisle brand. Cooper wins awards Four Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. tires have earned 2015 Good Design Awards. They are the Discoverer STT Pro and Discoverer SRX sold in the U.S., and Discoverer UTS and Weather Master Ice 100 sold in China. TIA offers CTS training The Tire Industry Association (TIA) will hold 2016 Certified Commercial Tire Service (CTS) instructor training and certification classes in Baltimore, Md., and Denver, Colo. Big O Tires expands TBC Corp. subsidiary Big O Tires LLC has opened its 41st store in Utah. The store in Vernal is owned and operated by Kenny and Charlynne Wondra and their son, Travis. The Wondras also own a store in Craig, Colo. Pirelli tests guayule tire Pirelli & Cie SpA is testing an ultra-high performance tire made from the guayule plant on a track and says its next step is to create winter tires from the plant. Hankook extends OE fitments Hankook will supply an additional 20 original equipment truck tires, including its e-Cube Max and Smart Flex for the Mercedes-Benz Actros and Atego, in the European market. bites Icahn says Pep Boys' retail automotive parts segment presented an "excellent synergistic acquisition opportunity" for its Auto Plus division. 10