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Titan Tire pays $9M for Union City plant

Titan Tire pays $9M for Union City plant

Titan Tire Corporation paid about $9 million for the former Union City Goodyear plant and preliminary plans are to use the plant to warehouse farm and off-road tires.
“Titan has not yet decided how it plans to utilize the Tennessee location except to warehouse farm and OTR tires and to have single equipment rebuilding operation for the machines,” Titan International chairman and CEO Maurice Taylor stated in a news release Tuesday.
“The decision on whether Titan will keep the equipment in Union City or move the equipment to other Titan tire factory locations will not be made until mid-2012. The mixing capacity with the equipment Titan purchased could allow an additional $1 billion in future sales and increase Titan’s output of farm and OTR tires going forward when, as stated, a decision is made. The transaction happened so fast so we have a lot of work to do to see what gives Titan the largest savings,” he said.
Under the terms of the agreement between Goodyear and Titan Tires, Titan has bought about 480 acres and the 2.1 million square-foot building.
Titan has agreed it will not produce radial passenger or sport utility vehicle tires at the plant.
Also, Titan will scrap all curing presses and any tire building equipment that is requested by Goodyear to be scrapped and Goodyear has until June 2012 to remove “the equipment they wish to retain.”
The sale agreement also includes a stipulation that will allow Goodyear workers and contractors to have full access to the plant to remove retained equipment.
“Titan has immediate access to the factory to allow inspection of the condition of all banbury equipment and steel and fabric calendar lines,” the Titan news release states.
“Titan will evaluate what needs to be done with the equipment.”
“Titan paid Goodyear approximately $9 million for this acquisition, but we do not know yet how much we will get back from all the scrap machinery,” Taylor stated in the news release.
“I appreciate there have been a lot of comments on this acquisition, but until we have decided exactly what we plan to do this is really all we can say.”

WCP 11.17.11