The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. on Monday announced a joint venture with Treadco Inc. to combine commercial tire service centers.
Goodyear will have 60 percent ownership interest and Treadco 40 percent in the new company, Wingfoot Commercial Tire Systems LLC.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
“This joint venture is in line with our corporate strategy to get closer to the customer in providing products and services at the end-user level,” said Sam Gibara, Goodyear chairman.
The agreement combines the Treadco operations, Goodyear’s commercial tire service centers and the Goodyear-owned Brad Ragan Inc. commercial tire centers. The joint venture will have 194 commercial tire and service centers, 77 retreading plants and approximately 3,000 employees. Estimated first-year sales are $650 million.
Wingfoot Tire will be headquartered in Fort Smith, Ark., with John R. Meyers, Treadco president and chief executive, serving as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer. Michael R. Thomann, Goodyear’s truck tires marketing director, will become president and chief operating officer.
Treadco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of shipping services company Arkansas Best Corp., has provided products and services for truck fleets since 1958. Goodyear supplies original equipment commercial tires to truck manufacturers and offers a variety of replacement tires for commercial carriers and independent drivers.
The deal is expected to close by Oct. 31, pending approval from the Federal Trade Commission.
Shares of Goodyear were up 6.2 cents to $22.38 on the New York Stock Exchange, where shares of Arkansas Best were down 75 cents to $13.06.
