India's Govind Rubber, Mewat Tyre merging

ERJ staff report (TB)

Tyre Business staff report

Mumbai, India -- Indian tyre maker Govind Rubber Ltd. has taken over fellow Indian tyre firm Mewat Tire & Rubber Co. (Pvt.) Ltd and has started upgrading Mewat's bias-ply agricultural, specialty and OTR tyre capacities to radial.

Financial terms of the takeover/merger were not disclosed, pending obligatory review of the deal by Indian authorities.

Rayne, Louisiana-based wholesale distributor Interco Tire Co., which has sourced tyres from Mewat for the past few years, is an investor in the deal.

Mumbai-based Govind Rubber is a 48-year-old producer of tyres and tubes primarily for two- and three-wheeled vehicles, generating about $75 million in annual sales. It operates a plant in Ludhiana, India, according to company information. It is perhaps best known as a maker of premium bicycle tyres and tubes.

Mewat Tyre produces bias-ply farm, industrial and OTR tyres at a 100,000-sq.-ft. plant in Alwar, Rajasthan, in northwest India.

Govind Rubber is not disclosing at this time the size of the investment in upgrading Mewat's plant nor details about the plant's capacities. Govind Rubber is part of VM Poddar Group, a larger diversified holding headed by Vinod Poddar, chairman and managing director, and his son Rahul Poddar, executive director.

Poddar Group, with holdings in synthetic rubber, cement and entertainment, reports annual sales of more than $500 million.

Prior to this Mewat was controlled primarily by three main shareholders, a spokesman for the deal said, including distributor American International Tires Inc. of Martinez, Ga., which - according to information posted on Mewat's website - was a founding partner in Mewat.

Interco CEO Warren Guidry said the acquisition will allow further investment in production equipment and strengthen its position as a supplier in the growing “application specific” tyre segment.

At this point, the spokesman said, it's still to be determined which brand or brands the new entity will market. Up to now Interco marketed under its own brand name.

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Article from Tire Business