JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Marangoni Group has increased its ownership stake in South African tread rubber producer Leader Rubber Company SA (Pty.) Ltd. to 51 percent, reinforcing a 10-plus-year relationship.
Marangoni said its decision to increase its stake to 51 from 25 percent is part of its strategy to consolidate and strengthen its presence in South Africa and the Sub-Saharan markets.
Marangoni bought the 25 percent stake in 2015 after working with Johannesburg-based Leader Rubber for the six years prior to that.
Marangoni's decision to raise its ownership stake follows by several months an investment by both parties to install capacity at Leader's Johannesburg facility for its Ringtread circular tread rubber to support Ringtread dealers in southern Africa, according to Matthias Leppert, Marangoni's EMEA sales manager.
Leader Rubber is the exclusive distributor of the Ringtread system to the South African market and is the leading supplier of precured tread strips, OTR uncured rubber as well as consumables and machinery for the retreading process in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.