Titan International Inc., the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), One Equity Partners LLC and Russian tire producer Cordiant have reached an agreement with to invest in Voltyre-Prom, a Russian agricultural and industrial tire manufacturer.
The consortium – with Titan International as the managing partner – will own a controlling stake in Voltyre-Prom. The consortium’s investment will allow Voltyre-Prom to update its operations, grow its production of specialty tires for international agricultural machinery, reduce imports by shifting production to Russia and begin to explore export opportunities.
According to a statement released by the companies, Voltyre-Prom is the leading producer of agricultural and industrial tires in Russia, with a 43% market share in agricultural tires and a 16% market share in industrial tires in 2012. The company produced some 1.35 million tires last year.
“Titan has plans to grow its tire, wheel and track footprint in Russia and CIS countries,” said Morry Taylor, chairman and CEO of Titan International. “John Deere, CNH, Agco and Caterpillar are just a few of Titan’s customers increasing their presence in Russia and CIS, and Titan will be there to service them and end users of their equipment as this expansion occurs. It is Titan’s belief that the future growth of global farming and mining lies in Russia and CIS countries.”
“The agreement with the consortium will enable Cordiant to focus on passenger and truck tire markets,” added Dmitry Sokov, CEO of Cordiant. “The deal also includes a three-year distribution partnership program, with Cordiant selling Voltyre’s passenger, truck and light truck tires. Cordiant plans to invest almost $550 million up to the end of 2018 to expand its passenger and truck tire business. This will increase production capacity by up to 12 million tires per year.”
