Trelleborg Wheel Systems strengthens service network in Europe

Trelleborg Wheel Systems has today signed an agreement to acquire the industrial tire business of Pircher Alfred s.a.s., a leading Italian tire distribution and service specialist.

Jean-Paul Mindermann, Trelleborg Wheel Systems Industrial Tires president, commented: “We are delighted to announce this acquisition and to welcome Pircher into the Trelleborg family. Recognizing that our Global OEM partners are increasingly looking towards aftermarket parts and service as a key source of revenue, over the past three years we have set out to strengthen our service capability across Europe. This acquisition sits perfectly with our strategy of delivering an integrated end-to-end approach for our global OEM partners, as well as giving us a leading service presence in Europe’s four largest forklift markets; Germany, France, Italy and the U.K. We have invested in creating Interfit, the industry leading service concept, specifically to meet the aftermarket service requirements of the leading global OEM forklift producers, and this acquisition is another important step for us.

“The relationship between Trelleborg and Pircher Alfred goes back a number of years. Pircher has for a long time been the principal distributor of Trelleborg tires in Italy and during that period has developed an excellent reputation for service quality. With its formal addition to Trelleborg’s European service and distribution network, we believe that our overall service proposition will be significantly strengthened.”

Elio Bartoli, Trelleborg Wheel Systems Industrial Tires European managing director, commented: “We strongly believe that customers both in Italy and across Europe will benefit from the acquisition. In Italy, customers will continue to receive the highest quality products and service while at a European level, we are now positioned to deliver a seamless service across all key markets. In the three years since we launched the Interfit service concept in Europe we have added significant value to our customers’ regional aftermarket business streams through local service delivery. We are very pleased to extend this offering.”

The acquisition and integration is expected to be finalized during the first quarter of 2014.