Titus, a brand founded by Chris Cocalis in 1991, has had a rocky path to ride since he sold his stake in the company and parted ways in 2006.
Since that time, Titus has switched hands several times and burned through a couple CEOs. Now, current owner Factors Southwest (FSW) has ceased activity with the brand and put it up for auction. They’re accepting bids until Friday, November 19, and the auction includes Titus’ tradenames, trademarks, logos, website, customer lists, inventory and property.
FSW has said they’re moving quickly to minimize the brand’s time off the market, which would obviously help a new owner. To that effect, they’re offering bidders the opportunity to bid in several ways to expedite the process, including bids on the note as well as the assets. Full auction details can be found on BRAIN’s website.
In an interview with Bikeradar, Titus’ former CEO Mike Gaumond, said they had been trying to raise additional capital as recently as last week, but when that fell through, FSW foreclosed. “We’d run out of money,” he said. “And they laid everyone off at that point anyway.”
It’s unclear what will come of warranty and customer support issues at this time. Here’s hoping some good management with a bit of backing comes together…Titus has had some legitimately bad ass bikes recently, not the least of which is the Rockstar 29er they showed at Sea Otter (above).
TITUS ROCKSTAR 29'ER TITANIUM FRAME 2010
TITUS ROCKSTAR FRAME '10
TITUS EL GUAPO FRAME '10
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