Sumitomo Rubber is taking over all the shares it doesn't own in Dunlop Sport, the Japanese owner of the Dunlop, Srixon, Cleveland Golf and XXIO brands, pulling it from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and forming a new sports division. The product line will be expanded. Sumitomo, which is also a major manufacturer of golf and tennis balls, already holds a 42 percent stake in Dunlop, which is forecasting an operating profit of 3.5 billion yen (€26.5m-$31.1m) on sales of ¥76.5 billion (€578.2m-$678.8m) for this year. Sumitomo is offering 0.784 shares in exchange for each Dunlop share in a deal that values Dunlop at about $375.0 million. The transaction follows Sumitomo's $137 million acquisition of Dunlop's trademark rights for much of the world outside Asia from Sports Direct International at the end of 2016.

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