Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. today has closed on the sale of its 65% ownership in Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co. (CCT) plant to Chengshan Group Co. for approximately $262 million.
“With the closing, offtake agreements go into effect under which CCT will continue to produce Cooper-branded products, including Roadmaster tyres, through mid-2018,” said Roy Armes, chairman, CEO and president of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. “The purpose of the offtake agreements is to provide a secure source of product while also allowing Cooper the flexibility to continue to identify and develop alternative sources for these tyres.”
Armes added that Cooper has the financial capacity to develop alternative tyre sourcing through a variety of forms including an agreement with a different supplier, an acquisition, a joint venture, adding capacity to other facilities, buying a new facility and running it ourselves, or building a new plant.
In October Chengshan Group Co. announced its plan to exercise its right to buy Cooper out of its shares in the joint venture.
Cooper will host a webcast Dec. 4 at 4:30 p.m. EST to discuss the CCT transaction and the preliminary countervailing duties on certain tyres imported into the United States from China, it said.