YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (June 16, 2010)—Titan Tire Corp. has bid $1.47 million for the remaining assets of bankrupt tire maker Denman Tire L.L.C., including idled equipment and some stocks but not the real estate.
Titan's bid, submitted to the bankruptcy court June 10, tops an earlier bid of $1.2 million from Cleveland-based Soberay & Sons Ltd. The bankruptcy trustee had chosen the rubber machinery broker as the “stalking horse,” or initial 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 produce with the assets it already acquired.
Taylor said Titan probably will sell 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.