MELBOURNE, Australia (Dec. 20) — Ansell Ltd. has launched a plan to buy back about $75 million of its shares during the next 12 months.
The manufacturer of latex rubber gloves and condoms will use the majority of the proceeds from the recently announced sale of joint venture South Pacific Tyres Ltd. to partner Goodyear to fund the share buyback.
Goodyear will purchase Ansell´s 50-percent interest in SPT for about $40 million. Goodyear also will repay about $50 million of outstanding loans from Ansell to SPT, the company said.
The deal, which was announced Dec. 15 and is subject to government and other approvals, is expected to be finalized in late January, a Goodyear spokesman said. The business will be operated as a separate entity but be part of Goodyear´s Asia/Pacific operation.