This Merger Will Hopefully Help The Industry Keep Rolling

Bridgestone announces plan to buy Pep Boys

The proposed arrangement would see Bridgestone buy out the Pep Boys chain for $15 per share, or about 23 percent over its current trading price, amounting to approximately $835 million. The move would take Pep Boys off the New York Stock Exchange, but is still pending regulatory approval as well as that of the retailer's current shareholders. The acquisition would give Bridgestone control over the 800+ locations that Pep Boys operates across the country. These would be added to what's billed as the "the world's largest chain of automotive tire and service centers," consisting of the 2,200 outlets across the country currently owned by the Japanese rubber company, to say nothing of the 5,000+ dealers and distributors with which it does business in the United States.

Once approved, the transaction is slated to close sometime in the beginning of 2016. What remains to be seen, however, is whether the move would allow Pep Boys to continue selling other brands of tires, or if it would only sell Bridgestone tires and those of its Firestone brand.

(AutoBlog.com)