
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 26, 1995                   TAG: 9505260068
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-15   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SINGER PLANTS TO OPEN

Singer Furniture Co. said Thursday it would resume operations at its plants in Roanoke, Lenoir and Washington, N.C., on June 5.

The plants have been inactive since early this month while Singer's new owner arranged financing for operations.

Earlier this month, a U.S. District judge in Roanoke awarded ownership of Singer to SSMC, a member of the Semi-Tech Group, removing it from control of corporate raider Paul Bilzerian and his wife, Terri Steffen, whose leveraged buyout of Singer in 1989 had kept it strapped for operating capital.

SSMC had filed a $70 million lawsuit against Bilzerian and Singer shareholders, accusing them of manipulations that diluted SSMC's interest in Singer. The Bilzerian-Steffen company, Singer Furniture Acquisition Co., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy - protection from creditors during reorganization - May 2 in Florida. It is no longer affiliated with Singer Furniture Co.

Singer Furniture President Dennis Ammons, who was not available for comment Thursday, said in a statement: "Our goal is to have everything returned to normal shortly."

Singer Furniture's Roanoke operations employed 500 people before they were idled. The company was based in Roanoke but now has headquarters in High Point, N.C.

by CNB