YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (June 16, 2010)—Titan Tire Corp. has bid $1.47 million to take over the remaining assets of bankrupt tire maker Denman Tire L.L.C., including idled equipment and some stocks but excluding the real estate.
Titan's bid, submitted to the bankruptcy court June 10, tops a bid of $1.2 million submitted earlier by Cleveland-based rubber machinery broker Soberay & Sons Ltd., which had been designated the “stalking horse” bidder by the bankruptcy trustee.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District in Ohio in Youngstown has scheduled a hearing for July 7 to hear the motion.
Titan's bid comprises $1.35 million for the remaining Denman property, $20,000 for leftover tire materials inventory and $100,000 for all other inventory.
The company has deposited $120,000 with the trustee to secure its bid, according to documents filed with the court.
Titan Chairman Maurice Taylor Jr. said Titan would have included these assets in its earlier bid, but the bankruptcy trustee has listed these assets separately. He said Titan will be able to use some of the equipment to make some of the Denman tire types Titan plans to make with the assets it acquired already.
Taylor said Titan likely will seek a buyer or buyers for equipment it determines it can't use.
Titan's earlier bid, for $4.4 million, was accepted recently by the bankruptcy court.
The Denman factory and real estate is being handled by Phoenix Management Services Inc. of Chadds Ford, Pa., which has set a deadline of 5 p.m. June 16 for written offers.