Apollo Completes Deal to Buy Dunlop SA

The deal was announced Jan. 31, and met all regulatory requirements.

The deal includes subsidiaries in Zimbabwe and the U.K., as well as tire production facilities in Durban and Ladysmith in South Africa and in Bulawayo and Harare in Zimbabwe.

“Dunlop marks the first of Apollo’s global footprint, expanding the reach of our exports and enlarging our customer base,” said Onkar Kanwar, Apollo’s chairman and managing director. “This is our springboard into the global arena. We will use the Dunlop distribution channels for our exports and to take the Apollo brand into Africa, even as we bring in brands made by Dunlop for our Indian customers.”

Dunlop South Africa will remain headquartered in Durban and will continue to be managed by the existing management team in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

In addition to producing Dunlop branded tires, Dunlop South Africa also produces Regal and India brands, exports tires to Europe, Central Asia, Australia and South America, and is the sole distributor of Cooper brand tires in Southern Africa.

The company also has more than 230 exclusive multi-brand dealerships called Dunlop Accredited Distributors across South Africa and Zimbabwe and owns a substantial portion of National Tyre Services in Zimbabwe, a major tire distributor and retreader with a technology agreement with Bandag Inc.

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