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Company working on Goodyear project will buy Ohio maker
Published on Wednesday, Aug 06, 2008
Beacon Journal staff report
Norwalk Furniture is being rescued by the investment arm of the company seeking to build a new Goodyear headquarters complex in Akron and reinvigorate the Hoover Co. property in North Canton.
Akron-based IRG Capital Group, an affiliate of California-based Industrial Realty Group, with Blackbird Capital Partners, has agreed to buy the 106-year-old Norwalk-based furniture maker.
Norwalk Furniture will stay in business under new ownership, helped by $4 million in loans from officials in Ohio and Mississippi.
Investment firms IRG Capital Group and Blackbird Capital Partners, based in Cincinnati, announced a deal on Monday to acquire Norwalk Furniture.
Industrial Realty Group is the driving force behind building a new $900 million project that includes a new Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. headquarters and revitalizing the surrounding neighborhood. IRG also bought the former Hoover Co. complex in North Canton for redevelopment. IRG operates in 22 states and also was the prime developer of Akron's Canal Place complex. Canal Place was formerly a B.F. Goodrich factory complex.
Norwalk Furniture sales were hurt by the national housing slump. The company suspended operations last month after a bank called its loan.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
A news release said the company's restructuring plan includes a $2 million low-interest state loan from Ohio and a matching one from city and county officials in Fulton, Miss., where Norwalk Furniture has a factory with 300 employees.
About 500 work at the headquarters and a factory in Norwalk.
The deal finalized on Aug. 4 will reposition the company for profitability by the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a news release.
Charles Rowe Jr., president of IRG Capital Group, will assume interim role as the company's CEO. Rowe formerly served as CEO of the Sharon Companies Ltd. in Akron and QualServ Corp. in Kansas City, Mo.
IRG Capital Group's focus is investment opportunities in distressed businesses and venture capital scenarios.
Get the full article here.
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