Continental announces purchase of Turkish tyre firm
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The German auto parts group Continental has bought 89.66 percent of Oltas SPA, a Turkish distributor of passenger and commercial vehicle tyres, Continental said on Tuesday.
Continental did not say how much it would pay for the holding, but reported that Istanbul-based Oltas had sales last year of about 39 million euros (62 million dollars).
"With this acquisition, we are significantly improving our market position for commercial vehicle and passenger car tyres in Turkey and thus in the growth region Eastern Europe overall," the statement quoted board member Alan Hippe as saying.
Continental is also battling a bid by the family-owned Schaeffler Group, which said last week it was amassing access to a stake of around 36 percent the the worlds fifth biggest auto parts companies, excluding tyres.
It was not immediately clear if the Oltas purchase had any bearing on Schaefflers bid, but the statement said that along with the purchase of a Slovakian and a Finnish firm, "we are constantly on the lookout for meaningful additions to our portfolio and want to continue growing."
Schaeffler has offered 69.37 euros ($109.87) per share for Continental, a price deemed much too low by the groups boss Manfred Wennemer.