Galaxy Tire buys stake in Rumaguma

MALDEN, Mass. (Feb. 24)—Specialty wheel and tire maker Galaxy Tire & Wheel Inc. has bought 70-percent ownership of Rumaguma A.D., a Ruma, Serbia-based producer of agricultural and off-road tires, and will invest several million dollars in the plant over five years to modernize and expand the 21-year-old facility. Galaxy said it pursued the Rumaguma acquisition to secure sufficient capacity to support its growth prospects for the coming years, according to Managing Director Neil Ganz. Rumaguma is operating at about 65 percent of its 11,900 metric tons annual capacity. Galaxy is purchasing the share of Rumaguma from the Serbian government, which had put the company on the market as part of a privatization program. Galaxy assumed day-to-day operational control of Rumaguma Feb. 20. The bulk of Rumaguma's production now is for Germany's Continental A.G. under an off-take agreement, a business arrangement Galaxy said it hopes to continue.