Tires

Liberty Tire Recycling acquires Lakin Tire

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Liberty Tire Recycling, Pittsburgh, has acquired Lakin Tire with support from its majority equity sponsor, The Carlyle Group, based in Washington.

Lakin, headquartered in Santa Fe Springs, California, and with operations throughout the western United States and the Northeast, is a tire removal and recycling company.

Combined, the two companies collect more than 180 million tires yearly and recycle about 2.6 billion pounds of rubber.

According to a news release from Liberty Tire on the acquisition, Thomas Womble, CEO of Liberty Tire, will continue to lead the combined business, while key leaders of Lakin, including Bob Lakin and Sean Lakin, will take on expanded roles within Liberty to drive continued customer service.

Bob Lakin also will maintain an equity ownership stake in Liberty.

The merger unites two complementary businesses that share a focus on safety, service, quality and innovation to leverage their strengths, share best practices and expand their combined geographic reach, according to Liberty Tire.

Womble says, “Lakin’s culture of service and sustainability is a great match for Liberty’s innovative tire processing and recycling capabilities, which will enable the combined company to drive increased sustainable reuse of scrap tires.”

“From the time my great- grandfather started Lakin Tire over 100 years ago, we’ve provided best-in-class customer service with environmentally friendly tire recycling solutions,” says Bob Lakin.

With the acquisition, Bob Lakin will become executive director at Liberty Tire Recycling.

“Partnering with Liberty is an exciting step in the growth trajectory of our company as their innovative technology will allow us to deliver our solutions to even more customers nationwide,” he adds.

Carlyle Strategic Partners IV and a key group of co-investors in Liberty Tire Recycling provided equity for the purchase.