Titan International Inc.'s option to purchase Goodyear's European farm tire business in Amiens, France, expired Nov. 30, freeing Titan to explore other acquisition options.
Goodyear and Titan entered into an agreement in 2009 for Titan to acquire Goodyear's Latin America and European farm tire business. The parties closed on the Latin America transaction on April 1, 2011. The European business option contained a clause that Goodyear had to have a social plan for the closing of the passenger car business in Amiens, leaving 537 jobs in the farm business.
In a statement, Titan said the “factory unions have been successful in the French labor courts holding up such plans for a number of years.”
“It shows how screwed up things are in France when a company tries to save jobs,” commented Morry Taylor, Titan chairman and CEO. “Titan has other acquisitions that have been on hold while the put option was still active. Now Titan will pursue those options instead of waiting for the French union to start thinking about their members. Titan spent a lot of time and money trying to get Goodyear's social plan approved but only a non business person would understand the French labor rules. The French workers are very good at what they do when they work but as I told the union personnel, you cannot get paid seven hours for three hours of work."