SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: National Tyre & Wheel Limited (NTAW) has executed an agreement under which its wholly owned subsidiary, NTAW Holdings (NZ) Limited, will acquire Carters Tyre Service Limited, C.O. Tire & Retreading Co Limited and Tyre Distributors New Zealand Limited (together, “Carter’s”) for a purchase price of NZ$30 million ($28.3m).
The acquisition will be funded by a debt facility, a $9m institutional share placement and an underwritten share purchase plan offer to raise $3m.
National Tyre & Wheel Limited (NTAW) imports and wholesales tyres and wheels in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. NTAW’s products cover almost all vehicle types and distribution channels.
Carter’s is the largest independent commercial tyre re-seller in NZ. It has a nationwide network of tyre resale stores in NZ spanning 40 locations, including 23 company owned stores, 11 licensed stores and six agents, as well as two retreading factories.
Carter’s supplies a range of commercial products and tyre management solutions for truck and bus fleets as well as off the road (OTR) and agribusiness vehicles. It has achieved a leading market position by remaining focussed on these segments of the tyre market.
Carter’s and NTAW are highly complementary businesses with a trading relationship extending over almost 25 years. NTAW, via its wholly owned subsidiary, Tyres4U (NZ) Limited, is already the largest independent commercial tyre wholesaler in NZ and supplies approximately 60% of Carter’s product purchases.
In turn, the Carter’s store network accounts for around 40% of Tyres4U (NZ)’s sales. The acquisition cements these existing synergistic relationships and the combined group will become the largest independent commercial tyre importer and re-seller in NZ.
This strategic position will enable National Tyre & Wheel Limited (NTAW) to invest with confidence to grow the Carter’s commercial store network and use the additional scale of the NZ business to rationalise product assortments.
Opportunities to sell more products sourced from Carter’s retreading factories will also arise. From completion, Carter’s will be the exclusive licensee of the TMS tyre management system in NZ.
This industry leading system, using software developed in collaboration with Carter’s, enables real time monitoring of treadware, data analytics (e.g. predicting when tyre changes will be required), improved tyre life expectancy (e.g. managing tyre care by drivers) and automated reporting.
The TMS system further advances NTAW’s strategic vision to be the tyre and wheel industry leader in digital transformation. Carter’s has an exclusive licence to use the TMS system in NZ until January 2026.