Apollo Tyres has completed acquisition of the Netherlands-based Vredestein Banden BV (VBBV), the company said on Monday, without disclosing the cost of the deal.

The company, which had earlier planned to set up a greenfield plant in Hungary, instead acquired the Dutch plant of bankrupt Russian tyre major Amtel-Vredestein NV.

The Dutch company – VBBV - however, has not been affected by bankruptcy at the Russian parent. Vredestein Banden reported an eight per cent year-on-year growth and a 305 million euro turnover last year.

Apollo Tyres, which later dropped plans for the Hungary project, said it has also got all regulatory approvals and consent from Dutch courts to acquire VBBV.

Local opposition to the plant site had, last year, forced Apollo to withdraw from its proposed location in Hungary.

"Vredestein Banden is a very high premium tyre maker in Europe and this gives us the platform to immediately get into the European market and also take the Apollo brand there," reports quoted Apollo Tyres vice chairman and joint managing director Neeraj R S Kanwar as saying.

VBBV, with a 5.5 million tyres a year plant near Amsterdam, manufactures mostly premium high-performance tyres like Vredestein and Maloya for high-speed passenger cars. These tyres are sold primarily in the European Union.

VBBV, which currently employs around 1,500 people, is likely to be renamed  Apollo Vredestein BV. Its current CEO Rob Oudshoorn will continue to lead Apollo Tyres' European operations, the company said.

Apollo last month reported double-digit growth in net sales despite the demand slowdown. The board had also recommended a dividend of 45 per cent.

Consolidated annual revenues - taking into account Indian and South African operations -- for Apollo Tyres grew by over 6 per cent to reach a net sales of Rs4980 crore from the previous year's Rs4691 crore. The company recorded a net profit after tax of Rs139 crore, making it the only top tier Indian tyre manufacturer to have remained profitable throughout all four quarters of the financial year 2008-09.