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Serta's largest licensees will merge with court OK

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, January 19, 2003

Itasca, Ill. — National Bedding Co. and Sleepmaster, Serta's two largest licensees, are poised to merge after court approval of a creditors committee's plan to bring Sleepmaster out of bankruptcy.

Officials of the proposed merged entity — a bedding powerhouse that would rank as one of the nation's largest producers in its own right — said their goal will be to increase sales and market share for Serta.

Last week, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware said it will enter an order confirming the plan offered by the creditors committee to merge the licensees into a new entity called National Bedding L.L.C., which will be Serta's largest stockholder. The transaction is expected to be completed in February.

National Bedding L.L.C. will own and operate the 20 plants and 27 licensed manufacturing territories currently owned by NBC and Sleepmaster.

"We are confident this combination of NBC and Sleepmaster will make Serta a much stronger and healthier company, improving every part of our operations," said Ed Lilly, Serta's president and chief executive officer. "This means Serta will deliver a high level of continuity in service and competitiveness throughout the country. National Bedding Co. has established itself as one of Serta's most profitable and experienced licensees."

NBC is headed by Richard Yulman and Burt Kaplan, co-chairmen of the board. Robert Sherman is president. They will be key executives of the new National Bedding L.L.C., which will be based at NBC headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

"Under the new structure, we plan to leverage the skill and experience of our management team to improve every aspect of Serta's operations to achieve long-term financial stability," said Sherman. "Our goal is to increase sales and market share and enhance our relationships with our retail customers."

Court approval for the new plan came after all objections, including those filed by Sleepmaster, were resolved.

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