Yokohama Rubber buying Goodyear OTR unit for $905m

Akron, Ohio / Hiratsuka, Japan – Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is selling its off-the-road (OTR) tires business to Yokohama Rubber Co. for $905 million subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions, by early 2025.

The deal would make YRC the world’s largest off-highway tire maker: building on its €2.1-billion acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems in 2023 and Alliance Tire Group for €1.1 billion in 2016.

With 2023 sales of about $678 million, Goodyear’s OTR operations include two production facilities in Topeka, Kansas and Tatsuno, Japan, and produce construction, mining and industrial tires.

YRC values the global OTR market at around €6 billion and expects it to grow 6% a year – compared, it said, to projected 2% annual growth for the consumer tire market.

The Japanese group has a particularly strong position in the global market for agriculture & forestry machinery tires – estimated to account for about 40% of the global OTR market.

The acquired business, said YRC, will complement its OTR product range in non-agricultural applications such as mining & construction machinery tires.

Additionally, the Japanese group expects the acquisition to provide product-development and production capabilities for large- and ultra-large tires “that it currently lacks.”

Under the cash deal, Goodyear will manufacture certain OTR products for Yokohama at some of its manufacturing sites for an initial period of up to five years after the closing of the transaction.

The Akron tire maker will also retain its business providing OTR tires for US military and defence applications, according to its 22 July announcement.