Bridgestone Americas Completes Bandag Purchase

Bridgestone Americas Holding (BSAH) has completed its $1.05 billion acquisition of Bandag Inc. Former BSAH Vice President and General Counsel Saul Solomon has been named chairman, CEO and president of Bridgestone Bandag,

the new operating name. Officials said the Bandag brand will not change and headquarters will remain in Muscatine, Iowa.
"This combination is a natural fit, signaling the beginning of an enhanced level of service and technology for our customers, while providing the same great level of quality," said Mark Emkes, BSAH chairman and CEO. "By combining our businesses, Bandag and Bridgestone Americas will provide even better service to our customers by offering a comprehensive tire maintenance solution, backed by a complete line of new and retread truck tire offerings."
Bandag's traditional businesses serve end-users through a variety of products offered by dealers including tire retreading and repairing and tire management systems. It also owns Tire Distribution Systems, which sells and services new and retread tires and it has an 87.5 percent stake in Speedco Inc., a provider of on-highway truck lubrication and tire services. Solomon said the focus of the acquisition was on the retreat and new tire side but they were looking forward to "learning how some of the other operations fit into the whole picture." For now, he added, Speedco would "keep on trucking, so to speak, to do its thing."
Former Bandag Chairman Martin Carver, whose family founded Bandag in 1957, will be a consultant to Bridgestone Bandag; but he also told a press conference to discuss the acquisition "I'm going to take some time and see if I can get bored for a while."