Standard Furniture Manufacturing Company, a portfolio company of Aterian Investment Partners, has acquired Albany Industries.
Albany Industries is a manufacturer of value-oriented stationary upholstered furniture including sofas, sectionals, and recliners that are sold under the Albany, Revolution and SoFab brand names. The business has approximately 600 employees and 1,000,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing capacity at facilities in Mississippi, Virginia, Vietnam, and Mexico. Albany Industries was founded in 1995 by Hugh and Richie McLarty and is headquartered in New Albany, MS (www.albanyindustries.com).
In 2009, the company formed an ESOP to acquire 100% of its stock for the benefit of its current and future employees. “Our buy of Albany is a great example of Aterian’s ability to execute on complex situations as this transaction had an ESOP seller, international complexity, and multiple strategic parties to reach agreement with prior to closing,” said Joshua Ciampa, Vice President at Aterian.
“This transaction and partnership with Standard Furniture and Aterian will continue the vision of the founders of Albany and its employee-owners, allowing the business to continue to flourish,” said Richard “Richie” McLarty, President & CEO of Albany. “I believe together both companies are stronger, with greater product breadth and market opportunities.”
Standard Furniture is a designer, manufacturer and importer of bedroom collections, dining room collections, motion upholstery, accents and accessories. The company has more than 2000 customers including national chains, regional dealers, distributors, small locally owned furniture stores, and eCommerce websites. Standard, led by CEO Todd Evans, was founded in 1946 and is headquartered near Mobile in Bay Minette, AL and employs nearly 750 people worldwide with roughly 2.5 million sq. ft. of operating facilities (www.standardfurniture.com).
Aterian acquired Standard Furniture in partnership with the founding Hodgson family in August 2017. “We could not be more pleased than to support two exceptional furniture families in the Hodgsons and McLartys as well as their respective management teams in their continued efforts to service their long-standing customer relationships better than ever,” said Michael Fieldstone, Partner at Aterian. “Together, the business will benefit from each company’s manufacturing and design capabilities, extensive supply chains and top-notch sales and marketing teams in their continued pursuit of sustainable growth.”
Aterian invests up to $50 million in small-to-middle market businesses with $25 million to $500 million in revenues that are underperforming, turnarounds or otherwise unique situations. The firm is based in New York (www.aterianpartners.com).
Charlotte, NC-based Stump & Company (www.stumpnet.com) was the financial advisor to Albany Industries.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | June 11, 2018