Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. has agreed to divest major portions of its chemical industrial products business unit to fellow Japanese companies Nitta Corp. and Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd. for undisclosed sums.
Among the businesses being divested are components for railway cars, industrial rubber products, hoses, waterproof materials, rigid polyurethane products, etc.
Toyo stressed that the seismic isolation rubber business — which was involved in a series of fraudulent business transactions over the past several years that resulted in tens of millions of dollars in losses for Toyo — is not part of the sale.
Neither Toyo nor Nitta disclosed financial details of the deals, which involve the creation of a new stock companies involving Toyo Chemical & Industrial Products Co. Ltd. and Soflan Wiz Co. Ltd., Toyo subsidiaries.
The Nitta deal involves six factories — three in Japan, two in China and one in Thailand.
Toyo did not disclose the scale of sales the businesses being divested represent.
Toyo said the divestitures are related to a business review process started earlier this year. Toyo said it evaluated and reassessed each business from various perspectives, including market growth potential and business continuity, and determined the best course of action to enhance the value of each business.
That led to Toyo’s concluding it would be best for the businesses now targeted for divestment to “pursue future opportunities under the ownership of a well-established company that possesses profound knowledge of a similar business segment, and has the necessary infrastructure to promote the business.”
By Bruce Davis
Source: Tire Business
The US State of New York is introducing two new bills to combat over-packaging, poor recycling rates and litter issues, including an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program requiring companies such as McDonald’s and Amazon to pay for the cost of packaging disposal and recycling.
The new organization’s mission is to redesign the critical steps of the plastics sorting and recycling system for post-consumer lightweight packaging (LWP) to speed up circularity, born from a need to meet the rising market demand for high-quality recyclates for use in high-end plastic applications.
Starbucks and Hubbub have launched a £1 million (US$1.22 million) “Bring It Back Fund” to increase the uptake of reusable packaging in the F&B industry. The funding will go toward innovative ideas that make it easier for customers to use alternatives to single-use packaging by supporting pilot projects that help shift consumption habits.
