Bridgestone to sell Russian assets to S8 Capital group

ULYANOVSK. Dec 20 (Interfax) - Japanese Bridgestone is selling its Russian assets to the Russian diversified holding company S8 Capital, a company press release said.

The transaction for the sale of the plant in Ulyanovsk and the sales office in Moscow received all the necessary regulatory approvals.

Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade confirmed the sale of the Japanese tire manufacturer's assets in Ulyanovsk to the S8 Capital group. "The Russian company received the plant and the distributor in the country. In addition to the plant in Ulyanovsk, S8 will take over the Bridgestone office in Moscow. Over 1,000 employees of the company will continue to work after the ownership change," Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Mikhail Yurin said, commenting on the deal.

Bridgestone has been present in Russia since 1998, employing about 1,000 people at its divisions in Russia.

In May 2023, the S8 Capital group acquired the Russian tire assets of the German Continental (a tire manufacturing plant in the Kaluga region with a capacity of 4 million tires per year and a finished goods distributor) and Russian tire manufacturer Cordiant with three facilities in Omsk and Yaroslavl. Earlier, in April, S8 Capital completed a transaction to acquire the Russian assets of Germany's Bosch in Engels, Saratov region.

Bridgestone in March 2022 suspended production of car tires in Ulyanovsk, as well as all investments and supplies to Russia. The company announced it would continue paying wages in all its divisions in Russia.

Bridgestone began producing tires in Ulyanovsk in May 2017. The site's capacity is 2 million tires per year; the volume of investments in the project totaled 12.5 billion rubles.

Japanese Bridgestone Corporation is the world's largest tire manufacturer, with representative offices in 40 countries.