Qingdao Sentury Tire: “dark horse” with abundant investments

Qingdao Sentury Tire Ltd has become a “dark horse” in Chinese tire industry in recent years.

Founded not long ago, the “dark horse” attracted wide attention whenever it built factories, developed new products or published performance results.

Co-founded by Chinese, American firms

When Sentury Tire is mentioned, many people may recall a lawsuit in 2013.

In August 2013, Japanese TOYO Tires accused 22 tire makers and dealers of infringing eight of its tread pattern design patents to the U.S. International Trade Commission, most of which were Chinese firms, including Sentury Tire.

Sentury Tire was the only one that succeeded in the dispute. In response to the accusation, it accused TOYO Tires of breaking the monopoly laws and carrying out unfair competitions. In the end, TOYO Tires dropped the claim with Sentury Tire.

Analysts said it was easy to understand why Sentury Tire won in the dispute.

At first, Sentury Tire was co-founded by Qingdao Sentaida Group of China, U.S. tire dealer TBC Corporation and U.S. premium tire dealer ZT Corporation.

Also, Sentury Tire was listed on OTCBB of NASDAQ in the U.S.

With the U.S. background, Sentury Tire had advantages in the legal procedure in the U.S.

Now the two American firms are no longer shareholders of Sentury Tire.

Accepting more investments

In 2014, Sentury Tire became the first private firm to produce aviation tires in China. After that, AVIC Fund of China invested 400 million yuan to become a shareholder of Sentury Tire.

In 2015, more investors came in. The company now has 18 major shareholders.

Sentury Tire also carried out two rounds of financing in 2015, receiving investments from Haitong Kaiyuan Investment and China Merchants Capital, without disclosing the value of assessment, financing figure or the proportion of shareholders’ shares.

With sufficient capitals, Sentury Tire has not only built a factory in Thailand but acquired a rubber industrial park in Thailand. Also, it is planning to set up a new factory in the U.S.

With strong dealing channels and advanced factories, capitals from central enterprises and foreign companies as well as many investment funds, Sentury Tire is growing into a major tire manufacturer.

Now the company is counseling with a broker on IPO preparations.

The “dark horse” of Chinese tire industry is expected to have more powerful prospect when it gets access to financial capitals.