GRI recently acquired specialty tire company Protyre in the Baltics. With the acquisition of Protyre in Estonia, and together with its previous acquisition of Nortire, GRI has now strengthened its position to service the material handling, agriculture, and OEM customers throughout the Balics region. Through this synergy, GRI is now poised to increase its sales volumes by 10 times in the Baltics, according to Martynas Jankauskis, managing director, Nortire.
Protyre was established in 1991 and has been focused on specialty tires and growing its business steadily since inception. By nurturing close relationships with trailer (forestry & agriculture) and tractor OEM producers, Protyre has been able to build a customer base that truly trusts them for high-quality products and service. The acquisition by GRI has supported Protyre with a new 1100-square-meter warehouse near Tallin, Estonia, in which 6.5-meter-high racks can be installed for tires and a new 100-square-meter office. The new facility also will have tire mounting presses for solid tires as well as the full range of large and small specialty tires.
“It is very difficult for a new player to enter this market segment, and through the acquisition of Protyre, GRI too has access to these lucrative sectors and has the potential to grow exponentially,” said Jankauskis.
Protyre provides tires for trailers and specialize in the tire and rim fitment service where they primarily supply for the OEM segment in Estonia and Finland. “With the acquisition by GRI Protyre will now be catering to both the OEM and replacement market throughout the Baltics region and support GRI with its current partners in Finland,” added Dr. Mahesha Ranasoma, CEO or GRI.
“The initial customer feedback for GRI tires has been very positive and OEM producers are extremely happy,” said Jankauskis. “The high quality of tires, and the fact that GRI has the capability to manufacture the required tire types and sizes in its state-of-the-art facility in Sri Lanka, professionalism and reputation built in the Baltics will strengthen the Nortire and Protyre synergy where business will grow rapidly in the coming months.”
“The acquisition of Protyre is another significant step in GRI’s expansion plans in the Baltics and is a part of GRI’s overall strategy in terms of expanding into new markets,” said GRI’s Managing Director Prabhash Subasinghe. GRI acquired Nortire in 2019 and secured its position in the Baltics which includes Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
