Bridgestone Selling Two Steel Cord Plants

Bridgestone Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to sell 100% of the shares held in its Italian and Chinese steel cord manufacturing subsidiaries to Belgium’s NV Bekaert SA.

The manufacturing subsidiaries to be sold are Bridgestone Metalpha Italia SpA (BMI), based in Sardinia, and Guangdong Province-based Bridgestone (Huizhou) Steel Cord Co.

As part of this transaction, Bridgestone has entered into a long-term tire cord supply agreement with Bekaert to ensure a stable supply of quality cord.

Bridgestone and Bekaert will complete the transactions once all applicable governmental and regulatory approvals are received. The transaction has an enterprise value of approximately 70 million euros, and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2010.

Combined, the two factories produce 40,000 tons of steel cord per annum and employ more than 430. The Italian plant has been the primary supplier of steel cord to Bridgestone plants in Europe since 1996. The facility in Huizhou opened in 1997 and was one of two Bridgestone-owned steel cord facilities in China.

The sale to Bekaert and the concentration of Bridgestone steel cord at the remaining facility in Shenyang will, notes Bridgestone, allow it to streamline its steel cord business, the company said.

Prior to the announced sale, Bridgestone operated seven steel cord plants worldwide – in the U.S., Italy, Thailand, Huizhou and Shenyang in China, plus Kuroiso and Saga in Japan – supplying this product to the group’s tire manufacturing facilities. (Tyres & Accessories)

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The Bridgestone Metalpha Italia plant is one of two acquired by Bekaert.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Ryan Waldron as president of the company's Americas business unit, reporting to Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart. He succeeds Steven R. McClellan, who retired on April 1.

"At Goodyear, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and in Ryan Waldron, we have a customer-centric, execution-focused business leader with a deep understanding of both the marketplace and all aspects of our business, as well as a proven track record of delivering results," Stewart said. "I am thrilled to announce him as president of Goodyear's Americas business and have enormous confidence that under his leadership, both the company and our customers will reach even greater levels of success."