A CONSORTIUM of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Titan International, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of agricultural and industrial tyres, and One Equity Partners (OEP), a global private equity fund and a subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase, are to buy a controlling interest in Voltyre-Prom, a leading Russian agricultural and industrial tyre manufacturer, with Titan International becoming its managing partner. The consortium’s investment will allow Voltyre-Prom to update its operations, grow its production of specialty tyres for international agricultural machinery, reduce imports by shifting production to Russia and begin to explore export opportunities.
In 2012, Voltyre-Prom’s market share in agricultural tyres was 43% and 16% in industrial tyres. The company produced around 1.35 million tyres in 2012.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF, said, “RDIF completed this deal alongside world class strategic partners from both the global industrial and financial sectors. The involvement of investors of such scale underlines the growth prospects in the Russian agricultural sector. The expertise and knowledge of our partners will help shift the production of world-class tires that currently takes place overseas to Russia. This investment meets the fund’s objectives and represents an exciting opportunity to get a foothold in this sector.”
Maurice Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Titan International, commented, “Titan has plans to grow its tyre, wheel and track footprint in Russia and CIS countries. John Deere, CNH, Agco and Caterpillar are just a few of Titan’s customers increasing their presence in Russia and CIS, and Titan will be there to service them and end users of their equipment as this expansion occurs. It is Titan’s belief that the future growth of global farming and mining lies in Russia and CIS countries.”