Findlay Tire Company Announces Acquisition of Mickey Thompson
FINDLAY, Ohio, March 11 -- COOPER TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY today announced the purchase of Max Trac Tire Company, Inc., better known as Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels. The company, with leased locations in Stow, Ohio and Temecula, California, designs, develops and distributes specialty tires for the street, strip, track and off-road racing. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Two well-known brand names are a part of this purchase. Mickey Thompson and Dick Cepek are highly respected brands among motorsport enthusiasts in the performance, racing and off-road markets.
Cooper Tire has been a supplier to Mickey Thompson for a number of years, providing specialty and off-road tires under the Mickey Thompson and Dick Cepek names. In addition, Mickey Thompson has distributed and provided trackside assistance for Cooper's Avon racing tires, which are produced in Melksham, England. There are no anticipated changes in Mickey Thompson's current relationship with suppliers of tires, wheels or other accessories. This business will continue to be managed from the Stow, Ohio location.
"We've had a great partnership for years and now we can combine our resources for even more opportunities around the world," said Mark F. Armstrong, president of Cooper's North American Tire Division. Lee McMannis, the owner of Mickey Thompson, was equally as enthusiastic about the acquisition. "Cooper brings enormous opportunity and resources to our rich racing heritage so the prospects are unlimited for Mickey Thompson employees and further penetration of our various markets." McMannis will continue to be associated with Mickey Thompson and Cooper.
"We will immediately start to identify areas in which we can take advantage of Mickey Thompson's expertise and name recognition to help promote Cooper's image in the racing, performance and off-road tire arena," said Armstrong. Cooper recently announced that Johnny Unser, Indy car circuit driver since 1993, will be a performance tire advisor for Cooper, an indication of its plans to grow significantly in the Ultra High Performance market segment.
Cooper has a 17 percent market share in the U.S. passenger tire replacement market, much of which is considered broadline tires. "We have an aggressive plan to grow sales in the H-V-Z segments which are the fastest- growing tire lines in the U.S. today. And, we have an even stronger presence in the radial light truck and SUV segments. This Mickey Thompson deal, with its racing and off-road connections, will help us in these efforts," concluded Armstrong.
Company Description
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, with headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, specializes in the manufacture and marketing of automotive products including auto, motorcycle and truck tires, inner tubes, tread rubber and equipment. Cooper-Standard Automotive is an original equipment supplier of sealing, trim, NVH control systems and fluid handling systems for the automotive industry in North America, Europe, Australia and South America. Cooper has more than 20,000 employees and 52 manufacturing facilities in 13 countries. In 2002, Cooper tied for "Best Customer Satisfaction in Replacement Tire for Light Truck Vehicles" in the J.D. Power and Associates' Replacement Tire Customer Satisfaction Study. For more information about Cooper, visit www.coopertire.com .
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010404/COOPERLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 212-782-2840