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Corber to buy LFI fabric group

By Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, February 10, 2002

High Point — LifeStyle Furnishings International has agreed to sell its Robert Allen Group fabric converting subsidiary, including its Beacon Hill design trade showrooms, to Corber Corp., an investment company and former owner of Berkline.

Terms were not disclosed and the transaction is expected to close in about 60 days.

Alan Cole, president and chief executive officer of LifeStyle, said fabric revenues for The Robert Allen Group, including the Ametex and Ramm, Son & Crocker divisions, were approximately $200 million in 2001, with Beacon Hill showrooms representing about another $50 million.

Corber, based in Wayne, N.J., and wholly owned by the Cordover family, owned motion upholstery producer Berkline before selling it to Masco in 1994. Masco's Home Furnishings division later became LifeStyle.

Jeffrey Cordover, Corber vice president, said Corber "plans to work with existing Robert Allen and Beacon Hill management to explore strategic channels of distribution and we are highly optimistic about the future.

"Robert Allen has continued to operate very profitably during the present difficult economy and has a strong management team under the leadership of Ron Kass, president and chief executive officer," Cordover said. "Corber has had extensive experience in this industry and we are delighted to be returning to home furnishings."

"Having worked with the Cordovers, we are confident they will support existing management at The Robert Allen Group," said Cole, a Berkline executive before joining Masco/LifeStyle. "They demonstrated a great sensitivity to customer, supplier and employee issues during their ownership of Berkline, and we expect that they will continue in that tradition."

Founded in 1938, Robert Allen designs, markets and distributes upholstery and other home furnishings and contract fabrics under the Ametex and Robert Allen brands. It sells to the design trade through its Beacon Hill showrooms in the United States and Canada.

Cole

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