River still open to furniture investments
By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, May 19, 2003
Chattanooga, Tenn. — River Associates, an investment banking and venture capital firm based here, is open to investing in the furniture industry, although it has sold off most of its industry holdings over the past year or two.
Its only remaining furniture asset is Lazar Inds., the California-based contemporary upholstery producer. Earlier this month, it sold Jaymar Furniture of Terrebonne, Quebec, to Shermag for an undisclosed sum in a deal expected to close by the end of May.
"We're still very involved with Lazar," said Mark Jones, a partner in River Associates. "They're a great company with a great management team."
At one time, River Associates held interests in casual dining producer Stoneville and glider rocker specialist Towne Square. Stone-ville was sold to its management group and category powerhouse Dutailier acquired Towne Square.
Lazar, Jaymar, Stoneville and Towne Square were part of what River called its Interior Logic division, and although most of its assets have been divested, Jones said his firm remains interested in the industry.
"We will continue to review those opportunities we come across, as we will in any industry," he said.
Currently, River Associates has interests in industries as varied as carpet, environment concerns, tooling and special events planning for corporations.
Ideally, Jones said River is interested in companies with sales in the $10 million to $50 million range with a strong management team that wants to assume an equity position.
"We're looking for companies that have some real enterprise potential that we can help grow in the medium term," he said.
River Associates functions as the corporate development arm for its companies, Jones said. "We're a high-level chief financial officer," he said.
"We don't want to be involved in day-to-day activities."
