IT IS BELIEVED PIRELLI dipped deep into its purse to acquire Swedish tyre retail chain Dackia, which boasts 66 outlets and - according to Pirelli - 50 affiliated distribution partners. With a payment of 70 million euros the Italian firm offered the seller, a private equity group, 70 million attractive reasons to exit the tyre business. And now Pirelli has acquired a 100 million euro turnover retail chain in Northern Europe, with which the company sees itself buying its way into a "strong margin, high end market." A template for such a model can be seen with the Finnish tyre maker and Pirelli competitor Nokian, who as a smaller but exceedingly successful niche market provider has focused virtually without exception on the snowbound regions of Europe and Canada and built up a strong retail chain in these regions, with which it intends to secure the company's turnover, particularly in the local Scandinavian markets.
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