Apollo Tyres has acquired German tyre distribution firm Reifencom GmbH for Euro 45.6 million. Reifencom deals in tyres for cars, motorcycles, off-roaders, SUVs and vans. The deal is expected to take the Indian tyre major closer to customers in Europe with the online market presently contributing to one-third of the total European tyre retail space. Enabling Apollo Tyres to improve its mix of distribution channels in Germany and Europe, and aid in increasing the visibility of Apollo and Vredestein tyres offline as well as in the fast growing online retail space, the acqusition follows an announcement to set up a greenfield plant in Hungary at a capital expenditure of Rs 2,260 crore, which will start production by early 2017. In 2009, Apollo Tyres acquired Vredestein Banden for an undisclosed sum. Reifencom operates 37 stores and service centres in Germany and its ecommerce portal is active across Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark.