Chennai, June 13:  Apollo Tyres has announced to  acquire US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in an all-cash transaction valued at $2.5 billion or around Rs 14,500 crore.

The Gurgaon-based tyre major said on Wednesday that it would offer Cooper stockholders $35 per share in cash — a 40% premium — to buy back all the shares and delist the Ohio-headquartered company from the New York Stock Exchange.

The mega deal, which comes at a time when markets are depressed globally, will catapult Apollo from its 16th position in the global pecking order to being the 7th largest tyre company. It will have a footprint in both developing and developed markets, including the US and China, and churn out daily volumes of 3,500 tonne, double what it now clocks.