Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd.’s (TYO:5101) European headquarters, Yokohama Europe GmbH, has concluded a contract to acquire all shares of ITR CEE Spolka z.o.o., a wholesale distributor engaged in the import and sale of Yokohama tires in central and eastern Europe. Once the transfer of shares is complete, the Polish company’s name will be changed to Yokohama CEE Społka z.o.o. Yokohama...
europe
Toyoda Gosei UK Moves to End Production
Toyoda Gosei UK Ltd. (TGUK), a local subsidiary of Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd. (TYO:7282), is planning to end its production operations. The company is currently looking to consult with employees regarding the proposed closure. With automakers continuing to scale back or close their production in the U.K., TGUK has determined that it cannot expect to achieve growth going forward. This...
JSR Subsidiary Makes Investment Into Biopharmaceutical Production
JSR Life Sciences LLC, a group company under JSR Corp. (TYO:4185), recently announced that it will be expanding cutting-edge facilities in Europe to grow its business for biopharmaceuticals. These facilities will serve to bolster the activities of two affiliates: namely, U.S.-based KBI Biopharma Inc. and Swiss-based Selexis SA. Through this expansion, the two affiliates will end up occupying a combined...
Bridgestone Looks to Close Bethune Plant in France
Bridgestone Europe NV/SA has started discussions with stakeholders with the aim of closing its Bethune plant in France. The plant is currently used to manufacture passenger car tires. This comes as the Bethune plant finds itself in an increasingly difficult competitive environment. Business profitability in the European passenger car tire market has fallen in recent years; then there is the...
Bridgestone Looks to Expand European Sales Network by Acquiring Germany’s Reiff
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) subsidiary Bridgestone Europe NV/SA recently announced that it has concluded a final agreement to acquire Reiff Reifen und Autotechnik GmbH, a supplier of automotive services including tire sales in southern Germany. The agreement was concluded on May 1; the amount paid for the acquisition has not yet been revealed. Reiff controls a retail network of 42 tire...
Coronavirus Looks Set to Impact European Operations of Japanese Rubber Companies
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has now spread to the point where it is impacting Japanese rubber companies with operations in Europe. Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) has halted operations at two of its European plants as of 3:00 p.m. Thursday, March 19, Japan Standard Time. The decision includes a truck and bus tire plant in Bilbao, Spain, as well as...