Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe to Purchase Remaining 50 Percent Share in Sweden's Dackia Retail Chain

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 16 -- Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe, an affiliate of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company , has strengthened its position in Scandinavia with an agreement to buy the outstanding shares of one of Sweden's major retail tire groups, Dackia.

Goodyear Dunlop expects to complete the purchase of the chain by the end of June. Goodyear Dunlop currently owns 50 percent of the shares with the remaining being primarily owned by Procuritas and Dackia management. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Since Goodyear originally purchased its 50 percent stake in Dackia in 1995, the company has been very impressed with the performance of Dackia's management team, which has developed a very loyal customer base," said Michael J. Roney, president of Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe.

"We intend continuing giving support to the current team while at the same time developing new initiatives, which will help the organization's profitable growth. The Dackia acquisition is part of our ambition to increase service levels to all customers in Nordic and an important milestone in our commitment to accelerate growth."

Dackia has more than 60 company owned stores, as well as 31 contract partners throughout Sweden, and annual sales revenue of approximately $65 million. Dackia is widely regarded as one of the most successful tire retailers in Europe's Nordic Region.

Dackia retailers sell a wide range of tires, including Goodyear, and offer other automotive related services.

Goodyear is the world's largest tire company. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, the company manufactures tires, engineered rubber products and chemicals in more than 90 facilities in 28 countries. It has marketing operations in almost every country around the world. Goodyear employs about 88,000 people worldwide.