Chinese company buys Cooper's share of joint venture

JINAN - A joint venture founded by China's Chengshan Group and US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Company will be wholly owned by Chengshan.

According to the announcement by Chengshan on Thursday, the two companies have reached an agreement in which Chengshan will buy the 65 percent of shares held by Cooper in the joint venture at a price of more than $280 million.

Last year, more than 5,000 Chinese employees of the joint venture, Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co Ltd in East China's Shandong province, halted production to vent discontent over the highly leveraged acquisition of the parent company Cooper by India-based Apollo Tyres Ltd.

Workers feared the acquisition might worsen the joint venture's financial strain and harm their interests.

The large crowd was joined by employees of factories owned by Cooper in the US and Britain. The planned acquisition failed at last.

Chengshan and Cooper agreed in late January to resume production and operation of the joint venture and to give Chengshan the priority of buying Cooper's shares or selling its own in the joint venture.

According to the Chengshan's updated announcement, the new company will be named Pulin Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co Ltd. The transaction will be completed by the end of November.