Court appoints administrator at financially troubled Yongtai

Dongying, China – Yongtai Group, one of China’s largest tire makers, entered administration on 16 July with law firm Dentons (Jinan) appointed its administrator by local court.

According to a document published by Shandong Dongying Intermediate People’s Court on 4 August, the first creditors’ meeting will be held on 15 October.

Yongtai was set up in 1996 in Dongying, Shandong province. It has annual capacity of 1.5 million units truck and bus tire and 6 million units passenger car tires, said local reports. The company’s official website is currently inaccessible.

An announcement by local procuratorate on 14 August said it has recently prosecuted Yongtai for loan fraud and illegal fundraising and the case is ongoing.

Yongtai’s ambitious expansions, such as into the car parts sector with two UK acquisitions - a £30 million takeover of Covpress in 2013 and an £28 million acquisition of UYT in 2015 - contributed to the financial trouble, too, said local reports.

Yongtai also spent over €128 million (1 billion yuan) to build a plant five times of Covpress’ size in Shandong using the acquired firm’s technology and process, according to local government website.

Image source: Yongtai Group's LinkedIn page