The acquisition by Sentaida International will be limited to Zisser’s wholesale division, and the transaction is scheduled to be completed on Nov. 21.
Sentaida International, part of the China based Sentaida Group, is currently headquartered in Southern California and owns the private brands Sentaida and Delinte. It also acts as the agent for a number of brands in the US, including Linglong UHP.
Following the acquisition, the company will be headquartered in St. Louis.
“Sentaida is very excited to expand our U.S. operation through Zisser Tire Wholesale. Zisser Tire is the worldwide leader in the UHP market. With the addition of new brands and our aggressive expansion plans, we expect the new operation to deliver even more value to our customers,” Jeff Chen, president of Sentaida International, explains.
The new ZT Wholesale will continue its focus as a specialty distributor of high performance tyres. A wider range of products will be offered, including exclusive PCR, TBR and OTR tyre lines.
The current product range will be expanded to include Linglong and Yartu performance tyres. These will complement Zisser Tire’s exclusive brands such as Diamond Back, Lexani and Wanli. All of the exclusive brands are offered on a factory direct basis and the company reports that exclusive distribution territories are available. Alongside these exclusive lines, major brands will continue to be offered, including Pirelli, Toyo, Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Kumho, Michelin.
Don Mathis will continue his role as general manager of ZT Wholesale, overseeing purchasing and managing the expanded sales team. According to Don Mathis, “Since I joined Zisser Tire in April of 1998, sales have increased from $2 million per year to over $130 million for 2007. With our new sales team and expanded product range, ZT will be able to better serve independent tyre dealers looking for a competitive source for high performance tires as well as passenger, truck and OTR tyres. UHP is the fastest growing part of the market and we are the biggest and fastest growing company in the world that specialises in UHP.”
The company will continue to serve customers from Zisser Tire Wholesale’s St. Louis warehouse. The current Sentaida warehouse in California will continue to operate as a satellite location with plans to expand to a much larger facility soon. This new California warehouse is intended to better serve the Western states with lower freight costs and faster delivery.
