Sun Tyre & Wheel Systems (SUN-TWS), a division of Sundaram Industries Ltd that in turn is part of the US$8 billion TVS Group of India, has acquired Starco Group’s tyre plant in Sri Lanka. It is SUN-TWS’s fifth manufacturing plant and, in addition to expansion at its existing plants in Sri Lanka and India, increases the company’s overall capacity by 40%.
Chennai-based SUN-TWS will take over the Starco Lanka operation, including the facilities, equipment and employees. SUN-TWS says it will continue to produce tyres for Starco, which is a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Kenda Rubber Industrial, with brands such as Tusker, Unicorn, Gecko and Makhna ranges to the same specification, whilst at the same time adding additional volumes into the factory, and boosting competitiveness.
“We see great potential to develop a partnership with SUN-TWS, immediately for our industrial segment, but also for other segments. We will maintain sales and distribution of our solid tyre ranges as the market knows it today,” states Richard Todd, CEO at Starco. He continues: “I would like to thank our Sri Lankan employees for all their hard work, and look forward to maintaining our strong relationship in the future.”
Furthermore, the company says customers will experience no change, as the product, and sales and distribution activities will remain, adding that both parties are committed to grow Starco’s Industrial Segment, and “become an even stronger partner for the original equipment manufacturers and key aftermarket distributors.”
Joseph Fernando, SUN-TWS President commented, “the key to the continued success of SUN-TWS is its unique business model, a passion for reliability and consistency, unrivalled customer service and an enduring loyalty to its clients; making SUN-TWS the preferred partner for forklift and tyre distributors around the globe. This is an exciting opportunity that will bring anticipated synergy to our manufacturing facilities.”
SUN-TWS has a portfolio of off-the-road highway tyres, wheels and assemblies for materials handling, construction & mining, heavy duty trailers, airports and seaports, while Starco Lanka was set up in 2011 to produce solid industrial tyres.
Denmark-headquartered Starco was acquired by Kenda in 2017 and operates factories in the UK, Croatia and China as well as eight sales and distribution centres across Europe.