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NORTH AMERICA
Malatesta Officially
a Member of the RTA
agricultural equipment and off- the-road tyres. Kardoes expands our capabilities and capacities to serve our customers in a more efficient way.”
Hexpol plans to operate Kardoes' Lafayette, Ala.- based campus as
Kardoes Rubber, a Hexpol Company, said Mike Cash, General Manager of Kardoes. Cash will remain as general manager, and he said he will retain “our core management team and all production associates.
“I look forward to
implementing various
benefits of being members
of "Hexpol” in terms of
capital expenditures for
various plant upgrades.”
“Our expectation is that Kardoes, along with the other Hexpol Compounding brands, will continue to grow along with our customers and markets,” Picard said. “The acquisition is a further step in expanding and strengthening the Hexpol Group within our core business.”
Hexpol is a worldwide polymers group that focuses on advanced rubber compounds, gaskets for plate heat exchangers, and plastic and rubber materials for truck and castor wheel applications.
Its customers are primarily original equipment manufacturers of plate heat exchangers and trucks, systems suppliers to the global automotive and engineering industries, the energy sector, and medical equipment manufacturers.
Hexpol is organised into two business areas: Hexpol Compounding and Hexpol Engineered Products. The group's 2013 sales were about $1.18 billion. It employs about 3,400 in 10
Mike Cash, General Manager of Kardoes.
Italian retreader Malatesta has come out of the shade and is now openly a member of the Retread Tire Association. Previously the Italian company was a member but preferred to remain anonymous. However, a change of heart sees the Italians being open about their membership and anyone interested in working with Malatesta can also contact them via the RTA.
"We continue to be very pleased by the number of supporters of our association including the retreaders and other representatives of the industrial sector," said RTA Director Harvey Brodsky. "Since it started in 2010, it has attracted more than 350 members in 39 countries and we are grateful to each of them for the support they offer in helping the group grow."
Tech International Founder to Join TIA Hall of Fame
Tech International founder, Charles Cornell, will be inducted into the 2014 Tire Industry Association (TIA) Hall of Fame this autumn. This is an especially meaningful honour as it occurs during Tech’s 75th anniversary year.
Cornell, who passed away in 1952, created Technical Rubber Company (now known as Tech International) in 1939 after he recognised the need for better tyre and tube
repairs. Cornell pioneered a vulcanisation process that repaired tyres without heat and revolutionised the tyre repair industry.
The vision Cornell had not only launched a business, but created a legacy for generations to come. Now, 75 years after Cornell began creating tyre repairs, Tech International is directed by the fourth-generation of family leaders.
Still headquartered in Johnstown, Ohio, Tech has grown to become an international manufacturer and distributor of more than 10,000 tyre repair, wheel service and industrial rubber products with 14 international offices and customers in 95 countries. Lauded for its export efforts, Tech International is one of only two companies to have been twice awarded the President’s “E-Star” Award for outstanding export success.
Tech International Founder Charles Cornell
countries.
The acquisition of Kardoes comes after Hexpol's acquisition of Robbins L.L.C. in late 2012.
Robbins L.L.C. is recognised as the leading manufacturer of quality envelopes and curing tubes for tyres, Hexpol said, as well as a U.S. rubber compounding company with a strong position in mining and agriculture. During the past year, Hexpol's NAFTA integration team introduced Robbins' business lines to appropriate Hexpol locations, merged the sales teams from both companies, implemented financial controls and cost reductions, and adjusted inventory levels to reflect the new business model and better serve Hexpol and Robbins customers.
The Robbins L.L.C. brand within Hexpol recently developed a specialised tyre market sales team to service the tyre industry, including tyre compounds, retreading options and speciality solutions.
Juanita Purcell Inducted to TIA Hall of Fame
Juanita Purcell, Executive Vice President of Purcell Tire & Rubber Company, was announced as an inductee into the Tire Industry Association Hall of Fame for her years’ of experience in the tyre service industry.
The astonishing growth and success of Purcell Tire & Rubber Company is just one of the reasons that the Tire Industry Association named Juanita Purcell as a 2014 inductee into its Hall of Fame. As executive vice president of the company, Juanita Purcell helped it to grow from a single retread plant and three stores in Missouri in 1970 to six retread plants, more than 60 retail and commercial
locations, and three corporate offices. Juanita Purcell and her husband Bob took over the reins at Purcell Tire &
Hexpol Buys Kardoes Rubber
Hexpol A.B. has signed an agreement to acquire Kardoes Rubber Co. from Frank Kardoes, who founded the business in 1988, and his family for $31.8 million on a cash and debt-free basis.
“The Kardoes Rubber acquisition is a very good complement to Hexpol
Compounding in the U.S.,” said Don Picard, Hexpol Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
“It broadens and further strengthens our presence with rubber compounding and calendering services into end user markets like industrial materials handling,
12 Retreading Business