ApolloTyres-Cooper hearing from November 5

 NEW DELHI: Apollo Tyres is confident that dismissal of its appeal against Cooper Tire by a US court “doesn’t really change anything.” The dismissal of the Apollo appeal by the Delaware Chancery Court in Ohio has now paved the way for the case hearing to start from next month. 

Apollo Tyres, which is in the process of acquiring Cooper’s businesses, has asked for a reduction in price after a lack of clarity on the US tyre maker’s business in China and also pending dues of US workers. The $2.5-billion deal was the biggest by an Indian company in the automobile sector, even trumping Tata’s acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover. 

Apollo Tyres had accused that the American company hasn’t been able to perform its due diligence involving its Chinese joint venture and other worker related issues at its US operations, thus affecting the final outcome of the deal. The final arguments are expected to start from November 5 with Cooper demanding expeditious conclusion to the pending merger. 

“The court’s hearing focused on only one small aspect of the case and the court asked for supplemental papers on a related issue that if determined in Apollo’s favour would also avoid the expense and distraction of a trial and allow us to devote full attention to overcoming the impediments to closing,” the company said in a statement. 

Apollo Tyres, which is buying Cooper at $35 a share, a premium of 43% to the market price before the deal was announced, reiterated that it would continue to work diligently to close the transaction. 

Both the companies are locked over the timeline of the deal. Cooper has alleged that Apollo Tyres is deliberately dragging its feet to delay the deal beyond the final December 31 deadline after which it can be terminated without any penalty.