Dunlop set to be taken over by Indian based firm

By Tichaona Sibanda
19 January 2006

Dunlop Zimbabwe, the troubled tyre manufacturing firm, is set to be taken over by an Indian firm, but is keeping its workers in the dark over the deal.

Officials from the sixth fastest growing tyre manufacturing company in the world, Apollo Tyres Limited from India have already been in Zimbabwe and toured all of Dunlop’s facilities.

A Dunlop worker from its Bulawayo firm confirmed to us Thursday that sometime in November last year a group of Indians visited their premises.

‘The group wanted so much information relating to the company, its perfomance, raw material, trial balance and everything involving the financial state of the company.

‘But we as workers were never briefed about what these people wanted, what their mission was. We are stil totally in the dark about that mission,’ said the worker.

The Financial Gazette on Thursday said Dunlop International chief executive officer, Mark Hankinson confirmed that they were ‘talking to a number of people’ and he is expected to travel to Harare in the next two weeks to seal the deal.

The paper added that its sources disclosed that officials from Apollo have already contracted a Harare based law firm to oversee the potential take over.

Dunlop Zimbabwe has in the last two years been struggling with its production following an acute shortage of foreign currency to buy raw materials. The company requires at least US$500 000 to manufacture tyres on a weekly basis.