Sumitomo Rubber Industries will take over Apollo Tyres South Africa as result of a transaction between SRI and Apollo Tyres.

The deal, which recently closed, gives SRI Apollo’s Ladysmith passenger tire plant and its rights to the Dunlap brand in 32 African countries for just $60 million. Apollo will keep its TBR and off road tire plant in Durban, South Africa.

“It has been a very eventful journey for us in Africa, since our entry in 2006 with the acquisition of Dunlop Tires International. This has given us a very sound understanding of the growing African market and helped us develop the market for our products in Latin America as well. Using South Africa as the base, we will now focus on brands where we own global rights, which we have already been selling in South Africa for the past few years, for the African and Latin American markets,” said Onkar Kanwar, chairman of Apollo Tyres.

Following this transaction, Apollo Tyres will continue to sell its Apollo, Vredestein and Regal branded tires in Africa, it said. Additionally, as agreed to, both tiremakers will also undertake contract manufacturing of their brands at each other’s facility to have locally manufactured products available for the market, Apollo said.

Apollo’s employees, retained in South Africa, will now work for the newly formed Apollo Durban (Pty) Ltd. No jobs have been lost in this transaction between the tiremakers.