Pirelli sells one factory in Romania, builds two more

Pirelli Romania Cabluri si Sisteme (cables and systems), the biggest business operated by Pirelli Italian group on the Romanian market, will go to a division of the powerful US investment bank Goldman Sachs, after the latter last week took over the entire Cables and Systems unit of the Italians.

Pirelli, however, has another two plants under way, close to the cables and systems plant of Slatina, with the first of them having commenced production tests last month.

With revenues of around 40 million euros last year, Pirelli Romania Cabluri si Sisteme company was the first manufacturing business of the Italian group in this country, with the company”s net profit accounting for more than 10-11% of turnover each year.

Customers such as Electrica or RomTelecom allowed the Romanian cables and systems plant to once more gain some market share in Romania, according to the annual report recently published by the Italian group, with the unit also being present on foreign markets. Nevertheless, Pirelli group decided to sell, for 1.3 billon euros, its cables and system unit, amid lower demand for such products globally, and the Italians are going to concentrate on “the development of some businesses with a higher added value”, according to Pirelli officials. The 150m euro-investments in two steel cord and high-performance tyre plants announced by Pirelli for Slatina are in line with this very policy involving the group”s focusing on some segments with a higher added value.

Last October, Pirelli announced it would build, jointly with another tyre producer, Continental, a steel cord plant in Slatina in the wake of investments worth 40 million euros.

Pirelli had already bought a plot of land of about 50 hectares near Slatina, right next to the cables and systems plant, following a transaction of more than two million euros.

The Italians” largest investment on the Romanian market was announced late last year, when the company”s representatives confirmed they were willing to pour another 110 million euros in a high-performance tyre production plant. Pirelli is not the only international tyre group carrying production activities on the Romanian market. Continental (the world”s fourth largest) has poured more than 120m euros in a tyre plant in Timisoara, while Michelin (the world”s largest) in 2001 bought two plants in Romania.