TRELLEBORG, Sweden—Trelleborg A.B. has agreed to sell its Trelleborg Wheel Systems business to Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. for $2.3 billion in a cash and debt-free deal.
It's a transaction in which Japan-based Yokohama sees a chance to make its tire operations less dependent on consumer tires, while Trelleborg sheds an operation it believes is at the top of its valuation, freeing the company up to focus on its non-tire rubber businesses.
The deal comes three months after speculation surfaced that the Japanese tire maker was interested in acquiring the Trelleborg unit, which generated $1.17 billion in revenue last year on the sale of agricultural tires and wheels. The TWS business generated 69 percent of its business in Europe in 2021, followed by North America at 18 percent, Latin America at 6 percent and the rest of the world 7 percent.