AKRON, Ohio — Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company will acquire the remainder of Sava Tires, a joint venture tire manufacturing company in Kranj, Slovenia.

Goodyear will exercise its call option and purchase the remaining 20 percent of Sava Tires owned by Slovenia’s Sava for approximately $52 million.

Company officials say Goodyear is completing the purchase in a move to strengthen its position in the central and eastern European market, and consolidate its low-cost sourcing capabilities.

The transaction should be complete in June. Goodyear’s stake in Sava Tires is held by its 75 per cent-owned Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe affiliate.

Goodyear acquired its original 60 per cent stake in the Sava Tires joint venture in 1998. The company bought an additional 20 per cent in 2002.

Sava Tires manufactured more than seven million tires for cars, light trucks and commercial vehicles in 2003, at its plant in Kranj. Sava exported more than 80 per cent of its production to 70 countries. The majority of its exports go to other European countries.

Goodyear has invested more than $100 million in modernization at Sava, say company officials.
Goodyear has three additional tire manufacturing plants in eastern Europe: in Debica, Poland, which now manufactures more than 15 million tires a year; and in Izmit and Adapazari in Turkey, which produce seven million tires a year between them.