Bridgestone studying sale of Firestone building products business

Nashville, Tennessee – Bridgestone Corp. is exploring opportunities to sell its Firestone Building Products Co. LLC (FSBP) subsidiary, according to a group official.

"Bridgestone is exploring a number of opportunities to unlock greater value for our employees, customers and shareholders," said a Bridgestone Americas spokesperson.

The building products division, whose principal business is elastomeric roofing materials, falls under the auspices of Bridgestone Americas, based in Nashville.

"We are considering various options to accelerate Bridgestone's mobility solutions journey and support FSBP's long-term growth plan," the spokesperson said, declining to comment further on the matter.

FSBP's roofing systems sells a range of roofing materials made of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) and styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS).

The business' divisions include GenFlex, GenTite Residential Roofing Systems and Gaco.

Bridgestone comments came in response to press reports suggesting that two potential buyers – Kingspan Group PLC and Standard Industries Inc – are currently in talks with the Japanese group for the sale of the unit.

Group CEO Shuichi Ishibashi told Japanese news agency Nikkei in mid-November that the plan to auction Firestone’s building materials was part of a wider cost-cutting effort to recover from anticipated annual loss.

Carlisle Cos. Inc. also has an interest, Bloomberg reported 5 Dec. All three already are major players in the roofing business.

Bridgestone, the world's No. 2 maker of tires, is currently undergoing a major structural turnaround which will see it focusing more on its core tire & rubber products as well as mobility solutions.

The group is facing an annual loss for the first time in about 70 years, a situation tied to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of an effort to sreamline its operations, Bridgestone announced earlier this year plans to close tire plants in France and South Africa.