La-Z-Boy Inc

Bobbin, Dec, 1999

La-Z-Boy Inc. and LADD Furniture Inc. are expected to close a major merger deal in early 2000 that will create the United States' largest publicly traded residential furniture company, with more than $2 billion in sales.

The firms, both giants of the furniture industry, announced that they had entered into a definitive merger agreement on Sept. 28 that called for Greensboro, NC-based LADD to merge into Monroe, MI-based La-Z-Boy. In the upholstered furniture category, La-Z-Boy offers the leading La-Z-Boy and Hammary brands and LADD offers the Clayton Marcus and Pennsylvania House brands, among others. La-Z-Boy employs 14,500 and operates 34 manufacturing facilities, while LADD employs 6,500 and operates 22 manufacturing facilities.

In the proposed merger transaction, each outstanding share of LADD common stock would be exchanged for 1.18 shares of La-Z-Boy common stock. The transaction would have a total equity value of $197.8 million, and a total transaction value of $299.3 million, including assumed net debt of $101.5 million.