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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 19, 2003
TITAN INTERNATIONAL, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
ILLINOIS 1-12936 36-3228472
(State of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
2701 SPRUCE STREET, QUINCY, IL 62301
(Address of principal executive offices, including Zip Code)
(217) 228-6011
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
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INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT
Items 1 through 4 and items 6 through 12 are inapplicable and are omitted from
this Report.
Item 5. OTHER EVENTS
In the matter of Vehicular Technologies v Titan Wheel, a case arising
from issues in 1992, prior to Titan's 1993 purchase of Dyneer Corporation,
regarding alleged patent infringement and other claims, Titan prevailed twice in
Federal Appellate Court regarding this case and was awarded a patent. The case
was refiled in State Court in California. Although Titan was successful in
Federal Appellate Court and a patent was awarded, these facts were disallowed by
the State Court. A judgment against Titan Wheel of $16.3 million was awarded.
Titan appealed this case, but was required by the State Court in California to
post a bond or cash amounting to one and a half times the judgment, for a total
of $24.5 million. Over the last several years, bond companies have incurred
significant losses and, therefore, required the Company to post 100% cash and
pay a significant premium fee in order to issue a bond. Thus, to avoid paying
the significant premium fee in addition to posting the bond, it was decided to
post the $24.5 million of cash directly with the State Court in California.
Emergency writs were filed with the Appellate and Supreme Courts of California
to allow the continuation of the appeal without posting the cash. These writs
were denied. The Supreme Court writ was denied on September 19, 2003. Given the
uncertainties of litigation, the Company is unable to predict the outcome of
this case. However, the Company has prevailed in prior litigation concerning
this case and management believes the Company will ultimately prevail.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
TITAN INTERNATIONAL, INC.
(Registrant)
Date: October 1, 2003 By: /s/ Kent W. Hackamack
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Kent W. Hackamack
Vice President of Finance and Treasurer
(Principal Financial Officer and
Principal Accounting Officer)
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