German tyre giant Continental AG has acquired the Kmart Tyre & Auto Service business from Wesfarmers.
Continental now adds KTAS’ 258 branches and 1200 staff after Wesfarmers Ltd sold the operation for a deal worth A$350 million.
The passenger and light commercial private and fleet tyre and workshop service and repair business, which was acquired by Coles Group in 2007, will compliment the Continental tyre operation which already has standalone tyre dealers around the country.
Wesfarmers, which expects a pre-tax profit of A$270 million upon completion, says
Continental, which employs over 243,000 in 60 countries will handle the trusted brand well.
“Continental’s automotive industry expertise will further strengthen the business’ customer offering,” Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott says in a statement.
“We believe that the divestment is in the best interests of Wesfarmers’ shareholders, while giving the employees and customers of KTAS the opportunity to join a highly complementary business,” he adds.
“I thank all of the KTAS team for their outstanding efforts in growing and improving the business under Wesfarmers’ ownership and, in advance, for their continued focus and commitment during the transition to new ownership,” Scott continues.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of March 2019, when Continental AG board member Nikolai Setzer says KTAS will begin taking the German tyre brand closer to its “Vision 2025″ growth strategy.
“Australia is a highly promising sales market for Continental, (and) the acquisition of
KTAS marks a major expansion in our presence on the Australian tyre market,” he says in a statement.
“With the current management team and our new colleagues at KTAS we are looking to drive forward what is already a strong network of outlets and expand their product portfolio,” Setzer explains.
“KTAS [is] a very successful and well-known tyre and auto services chain in
Australia,” he concludes, “The acquisition of KTAS marks a major expansion in our presence on the Australian tyre market.”
Continental has recently opened a tyre production facility for passenger and light truck tyres in Thailand, and recorded a €44 billion (A$68.7 billion) in sales in 2017.
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