Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100053
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Roanoke plant of Singer Furniture Co., which employs 500 people, has been closed this week while its parent company made the transition to new ownership.
Singer is no longer under the direction of corporate raider Paul Bilzerian and his wife, Terri Steffen, whose leveraged buyout of Singer had kept it strapped for operating capital.
Bilzerian gained national attention in the 1980s when he was sued for securities fraud. His company, Singer Furniture Acquisition, bought Singer Furniture in 1989.
Because of a ruling last week in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Singer once again is wholly owned by SSMC, which is part of the Semi-Tech Group of companies. Steffen, who previously held more than 80 percent of its stock, is no longer on the Singer board, said William Rakes, attorney for Singer's management.
The Bilzerian-Steffen company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection May 2 in Tampa, Fla. The change of ownership does not officially end the $70 million lawsuit SSMC filed against Bilzerian and Singer stockholders, accusing them of manipulations that diluted SSMC's interest in Singer, but it effectively does, Rakes said.
"What it does mean is that [SSMC], a very substantial company worldwide, will be able to provide the capital for Singer Furniture to compete," the Roanoke lawyer said. Singer is ranked by trade publications as the 23rd-largest U.S. furniture manufacturer.
The company's management, led by Dennis Ammons as president, will stay in place, Rakes said. Managers have been caught in the middle of the battles between Bilzerian and SSMC, he said.
Ammons, who lived in Roanoke until Singer's headquarters moved last year to High Point, N.C., was in Roanoke on Tuesday to meet with the plant's supervisors.
All of the company's eight plants, in Virginia and North Carolina, have been idled while "the financing and administration" are put into place to manage the company, he said.
The court ruling that allowed the ownership change came on the next-to-last day of the spring International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, at which Singer had "one of its better markets," Ammons said.
The change in ownership shouldn't affect business in the long term, he said, although there might be short-term concerns about filling orders because of the time the manufacturing facilities are idled.
"I think we're caught up, however," Ammons said, adding he was pleased to be back in the Semi-Tech camp with such companies as San Souci Electronics and Singer Sewing.
"I'd like to be as successful as one of those," he said. The Semi-Tech group includes Semi-Tech Ltd., International Semi-Tech Microelectronics Inc. and Shinwa Co. Ltd.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***