During the third quarter of 2013, Titan International recorded net sales of US$497.5 million, a 22.9 per cent year-on-year increase, while net sales for the first nine months of 2013 were $1,669.2 million, 25.8 per cent higher than during the same period of 2012.
Now that Maurice Taylor is making peace with France and workers in the country’s tyre sector, it appears Titan International’s French connection is not its only European interest. The Financial Times reported over the weekend that Titan is “weighing bids for three additional plants in Europe in deals that would take its sales in the region from US$750 million in 2012 to $1.3 billion.”
Reuters is reporting union leaders at a closed Goodyear plant in northern France have agreed to talks with Morry Taylor, Titan International chairman and CEO. Taylor infamously said earlier in 2013 that the plant wasn’t worth saving, but reports suggest he is reconsidering his abandoned takeover bid for the plant. The French union wants give their demands directly to Taylor in his US office, Tire Review reports.
Maurice Taylor may take some of those ‘so-called workers’ after all. A text published by Agence France Presse yesterday says Titan International has made an offer regarding Goodyear’s Amiens Nord site.
While the phrase “one-stop shop” is somewhat overused in relation to tyre wholesaling, RH Claydon (RHC) business development & purchasing director John Parker argues that for his company it is thoroughly deserved. Now in its 60th year of trading as one of the UK’s independent nationwide premier specialist tyre wholesalers, RHC believes that, whether the need is for Consumer, Off-Highway or Truck applications, it has a wide range of brands and fitments within its extensive product portfolio to meet the requirements of service provider and end-user alike in the UK and Ireland market place.
Titan International has announced the closing of its offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of 6.875 per cent Senior Secured Notes, due 2020.
Titan intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to finance the purchase of the Company’s 7.875 per cent Senior Secured Notes due 2017 validly tendered pursuant to a tender offer and consent solicitation which it commenced on September 23, 2013, and to pay all consent payments, accrued interest, costs and expenses associated therewith.
News from the USA; Titan International Inc., in partnership with One Equity Partners (OEP) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), has closed the acquisition of a majority interest in Voltyre-Prom, a leading producer of agricultural and industrial tyres in Volgograd, Russia, from the principal owner, Cordiant, for approximately $94 million. This sum includes the assumption of debt, subject to various post closing adjustments over a period of three years.
Titan International announced on 19 September that it has withdrawn the elements of its 2013 guidance related to revenue and EBITDA. In a statement, the company said it “does not anticipate issuing any further updated guidance until its 2014 guidance is issued by January 2014.”
Titan International has announced the appointment of Peter McNitt, vice-chair of BMO Harris Bank, to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
A consortium made up of US tyre maker Titan International, Russian government fund the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), and private equity fund One Equity Partners (OEP) have reached an agreement in principle with Russian tyre holding Cordiant to invest in Russian agricultural and industrial tyre manufacturer Voltyre-Prom. The consortium will own a controlling stake in Voltyre-Prom, with Titan International becoming its managing partner.
Reports of Titan International’s plan to enter the Russian market have been widely reported by that country’s media, and the US tyre maker has released a statement confirming it has, in cooperation with One Equity Partners (OEP) and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), entered into negotiations with Cordiant about a potential investment in Russia. Titan says it hopes to “successfully complete these discussions in the near future.”
Titan International could be planning to enter the Russian market, having bought a stake in Voltair Prom, the Kordiant-owned plant in based in Volgograd. According to the Moscow Times and Vedemosti newspapers, the factory, which produces agricultural and industrial tyres is valued at 5.1 billion rubles (US$160 million). One Equity Partners Fund, a JPMorgan affiliate, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund, could co-invest with Titan, a source close to the negotiations is quoted as saying.
With no buyers seeking to purchase it, the closure of Goodyear’s Amiens Nord tyre manufacturing facility now looks inevitable. And according to various French news reports, France's government has now faced up to the fact that this means the loss of up to 1,200 jobs.
Indeed closure is now the only option on the table after the French Agency for International Investment (AFII) contacted 57 potentially suitable of which just eight said they would be interested. Of these five signed confidentiality agreements and two non-binding offers were presented, but France's Economic Redevelopment Ministry said "after careful examination of the plans put forward," no candidates were in a position to present a binding offer.
Speke OTR and commercial tyre and wheel wholesaler Kirkby Tyres says it has recently undertaken a major programme of investment, upgrading its existing facilities with a new shot blaster capable of processing wheels up to 54” and above. A customised temperature and pressure controlled spraybooth has also been installed along with new fitting facilities.
Titan International has hired Keith Fuglaar as its new vice-president of finance for North America. Fuglaar joins Titan from US-based heavy manufacturing firm The Egging Company, where he served as chief financial officer. Prior to his Egging commitment, Fuglaar was vice-president of finance for ARC Automotive, corporate controller at HNTB Corporation and director-FP&A with McLeodUSA. Fuglaar holds an MBA from the University of Tennessee and a BS from Louisiana Tech.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
