AFTER consolidating its Paris-based staff operations to a new site in Boulogne-Billancourt, French tyre maker Michelin has sold the 12,000 sq m property for EUR110 million to domestic insurance group Covea. Michelin will earn a capital gain of nearly EUR100 million from the sale.
In another part of the globe, Michelin has signed an MOU with Serbian authorities and the city of Pirot, for the expansion of its Tigar facility that will produce 12 million tyres/year by 2016. It will involve an investment of EUR170 million over the next four years.
Michelin sells Paris hq, builds plants in US and Serbia In the US, Michelin is building an Earthmover off-the-road radial tyre plant on its current site in South Carolina. Construction will commence in late 2013. The current site produces semi-finished products and rubber compounds for the group’s US plants. The firm will also expand its Earthmover tyre facility in Lexington, South Carolina. The two projects are valued at US$750 million and will create 500 new jobs.
The market for Earthmover tyres grew by more than 20% between 2009 and 2011 and the firm says the new facilities will help it attain its objectives for 2015. (PRA)
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