FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1996                               (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


    ILLINOIS TIRE MANUFACTURER WILL PAY $130,000 CIVIL PENALTY
     FOR VIOLATING ANTITRUST PREMERGER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Quincy, Illinois tire manufacturer
will pay a $130,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it
violated antitrust premerger reporting requirements, said the
Department of Justice.
     The Department's Antitrust Division today filed a civil suit
against Titan Wheel International Inc. for acquiring control of a
Pirelli Armstrong Tire Corp. plant in Des Moines, Iowa, without
properly notifying federal antitrust authorities of the $41
million acquisition between the parties.  The suit and a proposed
settlement were filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.,
at the request of the Federal Trade Commission.  The settlement,
which must be approved by the court, would settle the suit.
     The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of 1976, imposes notification and
waiting period requirements on individuals and companies over a
certain size before they consummate acquisitions of stock or
assets over a certain value or ownership percentage.
     A description of the case is contained in the attached press
release from the Federal Trade Commission.
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