Leading tyre manufacturer CEAT is acquiring the Camso brand off-highway construction equipment bias tyre and tracks business from Michelin in an all-cash deal valued at about $225 million. The transaction will include the business with revenues of around $213 million for CY 2023 and global ownership of the Camso brand along with two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.
The manufacturing facilities being acquired are located in Sri Lanka.
Camso is a premium brand in construction equipment tyre and tracks with strong equity and market position in European Union and North American aftermarket and OE segments. The Camso brand will be permanently assigned to CEAT across categories after a 3-year licensing period.
CEAT said that this acquisition will expand its product portfolio in the high margin off-highway tyres (OHT) and tracks segments, which includes agriculture tyres and tracks, harvester tyres and tracks, power sports tracks and material handling tyres.
Michelin will thus exit from the activities related to compact line bias tyres and construction tracks.
Camso will give CEAT the ability to widen its product base into tracks and construction tyres. More importantly, it will give CEAT access to a global customer base including over 40 international OEMs and premium international OHT Distributors.
“This acquisition has significant strategic consequence for CEAT as it catalyzes the company’s journey towards being a leading tyre maker globally. Camso is an industry leading brand in the off-highway tyre market built through many years of investment in creating product superiority and manufacturing excellence, nurtured through the Michelin parentage,” said Anant Goenka, Vice Chairman, RPG Enterprises.
Arnab Banerjee, MD & CEO, CEAT, said, “Access to the most premium customers, a high-quality brand and a qualified global workforce is what excites us the most about this acquisition. The track segment is a technologically superior segment with a limited number of global players.”