Feb 5 2008
Bridgestone Corporation announced that Bridgestone Holdings (Thailand) Co., Ltd. ("BSHT") has agreed to acquire Shell Autoserv (Thailand) Co., Ltd. ("SAT") from Shell Group company on February 4th. BSHT was established through a joint capital investment of Thai Bridgestone Co., Ltd., the Thai subsidiary of Bridgestone, and a local Thai partner. SAT owns 64 "Shell Autoserv" stores in the capital city of Bangkok and in other locations throughout the country, which is an independent network and provides car maintenance service including tire and lubricant sales.
In addition to the Thai transaction, Bridgestone also announced an agreement between Bridgestone Tyre Sales (Malaysia) SDN.BHD. ("BSTM") and Shell Group company for the acquisition by BSTM of 8 "Shell Autoserv" car maintenance stores in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, BSHT and BSTM have also secured an agreement with Shell to continue to supply and sell Shell lubricants.
The Bridgestone Group has an existing retail network of 178 stores in Thailand and 201 stores in Malaysia, consisting of both company-owned stores and franchise shops, which provide car maintenance services, with a primary focus on tire sales. This acquisition is one of measures in line with our channel strategy. The addition of 64 stores in Thailand and 8 in Malaysia will further strengthen the Bridgestone Group's retail presence and enhance the Bridgestone Group's ability to respond to continuing growth in tire demand in Thailand and Malaysia.
Since October, 2006, the Bridgestone Group has operated under an SBU structure in order to realize an optimal group/global management structure that can swiftly identify and respond to market and customer needs worldwide. In Asia, in addition to the growth of its retail network, the Bridgestone Group has also announced increases in production capacity as well as enhanced production efficiency at plants in Thailand, India and Indonesia. The Bridgestone Group continues to take a swift and strategic approach in order to achieve the goals of its Mid-term Management Plan announced in October, 2007.