No details on the deal have been made public, and Denman officials refused public comment.
According to reports, Pensler officials toured the northwest Ohio bias OTR tire plant early this week. The deal, though, was reportedly signed Jan. 16.
Sources indicated that Pensler will likely treat the plant as a separate business entity, but may merge it into Leavittsburg, Ohio-based Denman in the future.
Before finalizing any purchase of the plant, Pensler must still negotiate a new master contract with the United Steelworkers and its Local 890, which represents the plant. A previous deal between CTNA and German retreaders Roesler Group fell apart last summer when the union and Roesler could not come to a basic contract agreement.
When CTNA announced last year that it intended to sell the plant, Denman and Pensler Capital were both rumored to be prospective suitors. Instead, Roesler stepped up and made an offer believed to be quite favorable to the $10 million retreader. Titan International was also rumored to be involved in a deal to buy the plant – either independently or in partnership with Roesler – but nothing tangible ever materialzed.
No timetable for completion of a purchase was announced.
