Keller plans to go private March 29
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 15, 2004
Corydon, Ind. — Corydon, Ind.— Publicly held case goods manufacturer Keller plans to go private on March 29, completing a transaction it announced last fall.
In a disclosure statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, Keller management also outlined plans for increasing sales and reversing the losses it has suffered in recent quarters.
Long a midsized Midwestern manufacturer, the company got a new management team last summer headed by Keith Williams, a former Child Craft executive now Keller's president and CEO; industry veteran Ken Fonville, president of a new product creative arm called the Keller Design Center; and David Richardson, chief financial officer.
In SEC filings, the company reported sales of $17.7 million for the first nine months of 2003, down 36% from the comparable 2002 period, and a net loss of $8.1 million, compared with a $2 million loss a year earlier.
In projections for future years — which it said were prepared for internal use, but were part of the SEC filing — it projects sales of $26 million for 2004, rising to $55.5 million in 2008. It also plans on a profit of about $600,000 this year, growing to $4.9 million in 2008.
Keller's filing said it expects to achieve such results with new products that will broaden the styles and price points it offers, an expanding dealer base, and an increased reliance on imports. Keller manufactures at its New Salisbury, Ind., factory and said it may source from other U.S. plants as well as from overseas.
Through a reverse stock split, the company plans to buy out each shareholder with fewer than 500 shares at $4 per share. That is expected to reduce the number of shareholders to about 250, freeing the company from filing SEC reports and saving money in direct and indirect expenses associated with operating as a public company.
