US court to take up Cooper Tire plea on Dec 19

The Delaware Supreme Court will hear on December 19 the US-based Cooper Tire's plea seeking reversal of the partial ruling of a lower court earlier this month in Apollo Tyres' favour.

Cooper had filed a motion with the higher court on November 12 after being disappointed with the lower court’s verdict on the proposed merger that said Apollo had used “reasonable best efforts” to negotiate with the United SteelWorkers (USW) workers' union and that, contrary to Cooper’s claims, “nothing in Apollo’s conduct indicates buyer’s remorse”. 

"Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is pleased that the Delaware Supreme Court has granted our motion for an expedited hearing of our appeal of the partial ruling issued on November 8, opinion letter issued November 9, by the Delaware Chancery Court. The hearing is set for December 19 in Dover, Delaware. Cooper continues to seek the expeditious closing of the merger with Apollo Tyres," a Cooper Tire statement said.

Cooper is seeking to force Apollo to close the merger at a previously announced priced of $35 per share, blaming Apollo for the delays on reaching an agreement with US-based workers. Apollo, which is believed to be seeking a lower price, said that Cooper's move to appeal at a higher court is an attempt to avoid accepting responsibility for its lack of control over its largest subsidiary, China's Cooper Chengshan Tire (CCT). Unavailability of financial data for CCT and a strike at the unit since the merger was announced in June this year, has been cited as a major reason for the delay in closing the $2.5 billion merger by Apollo.

“Cooper is again attempting to avoid rather than accept its responsibility for the situation at CCT, as it has done throughout this process. We do not agree with Cooper that its lack of control over its largest subsidiary was caused by the proposed merger. We remain committed to finding a sensible way forward for all affected stakeholders, including the USW, and look forward to seeing Cooper’s updated financials when available.” a statement by Apollo said.