Houlihan Lokey Advises Yokohama Rubber on Its Acquisition of Goodyear’s OTR Tire Business

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. (Yokohama Rubber) has entered into a definitive agreement with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (Goodyear) to acquire its off-the-road (OTR) tire business for $905 million. Houlihan Lokey served as lead financial advisor to Yokohama Rubber. This transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Founded in 1917 and headquartered in Hiratsuka, Japan, Yokohama Rubber is the world’s eighth largest and Japan’s third largest tire manufacturer, with a market cap of approximately $3.5 billion.

Founded in 1898 and headquartered in Akron, Ohio, Goodyear is one of the largest global tire manufacturers, with a market cap of approximately $3.2 billion. In 2023, its OTR tire business recorded $678 million in revenue and $130 million adjusted EBITDA.

This transaction further strengthens Yokohama Rubber’s OTR tire business in line with its mid-term strategic plan by perfectly supplementing the missing pieces of its OTR product lineup, including surface and underground mining, and haulage tires.

Houlihan Lokey served as lead financial advisor to Yokohama Rubber on this transaction, following the sale of its adhesive/sealant business in 2021 and its acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems for €2,040 million in 2023. This track record highlights Houlihan Lokey’s extensive expertise in the industrial and automotive industry, and our solid relationship with Yokohama Rubber. Other highlights of this transaction include:

• The largest Japan-related cross-border transaction in the industrial space in 2024.*
• The second largest transaction in the tire industry globally in the past two years.
• Houlihan Lokey has advised on two of the three largest deals in the tire industry globally in the past three years.

*As of the announcement date on July 22, 2024.

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