Goodyear gets bridge facility commitment for Cooper Tire purchase

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Feb. 22 – Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has received a commitment for a bridge financing facility to support its acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., according to an 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

JPMorgan Chase Bank provided the debt commitment.

The company plans to use debt and cash on the balance sheet to fund the cash portion of the acquisition.

Net leverage is targeted to be below around 3x within two years of the transaction close.

Under the agreement, Cooper is being bought for $41.75 per share in cash and a fixed exchange ratio of 0.907 shares of Goodyear common stock per Cooper share for a total equity value of about $2.8 billion.

The combined company will have around $17.5 billion in pro forma 2019 sales.

Closing is expected in the second half of the year, subject to customary conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals and the approval of Cooper shareholders.

Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear and Findlay, Ohio-based Cooper are tire manufacturers.

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