FINDLAY, Ohio (March 4, 2010)—Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. said it will boost its stake in its Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co. Ltd. joint venture in China to 65 percent at the request of its partner, Chengshan Group.
Chengshan notified Cooper Tire recently it is exercising a put option on a 14-percent stake in the companies' joint venture, following through on action in July 2009 it said it was considering. Chengshan's share will drop to 35 percent following the change.
Cooper has budgeted $17.9 million for the interest and anticipates making the transaction during the first quarter.
Findlay-based Cooper budgeted a minimum of $62.7 million for the entire 49-percent share, according to its latest 10-K filing. The tire maker declined to comment on Chengshan's reasons for exercising its put at this time.
Cooper Chengshan operates a factory in Chengshan with 9 million units of annual capacity for passenger, light truck and medium truck tires.