One of North America’s largest tire recycling specialists, Liberty Tire Recycling, has acquired tire removal and recycling company Lakin Tire, with support from its majority equity sponsor The Carlyle Group.
The merger unites two complementary businesses, which share a focus on safety, service, quality and innovation, in order to leverage their respective strengths, share best practices and expand their combined geographic reach.
Headquartered in Santa Fe Springs, California, Lakin’s operations are based throughout western USA and the northeast. Combined, the two companies collect over 180 million tires per year and recycle approximately 2.6 billion pounds of rubber into sustainable products.
Thomas Womble, CEO of Liberty Tire, continues to lead the combined business, while key leaders of Lakin, including Bob Lakin and Sean Lakin, take on broader roles within Liberty focusing on improving customer service. Bob Lakin maintains an equity ownership stake in Liberty and becomes executive director at Liberty Tire.
Central to the strategic vision of the joint business is a better ability to provide high-quality, comprehensive tire collection services and sustainable, eco-friendly recycled products to new and existing customers.
“Similar to Liberty, Lakin has a long heritage of providing outstanding customer service and has a deep commitment to sustainability,” said Womble. “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,” added Bob Lakin. “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. I am excited to be an equity owner of the combined business.”
