Flaster Greenberg recently served as counsel to its longtime client, Lasko Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries (“Lasko Group”) in connection with the strategic planning and for sale of its capital stock to two private equity firms, Comvest Partners of Florida and JW Levin Management Partners of New York. The Lasko family will remain as investors in the company.
Lasko Group is the largest manufacturer of portable fans and heaters in the United States. The company, which was founded in 1906 by Henry Lasko, designs and manufactures home comfort and convenience products for consumers in the United States and internationally. Its customers include the largest retail outlets in the world. Recognized as the leading company in the industry, Lasko Group is headquartered in West Chester, PA, and proudly operates American manufacturing, assembly, and distribution facilities in Tennessee, Texas and Pennsylvania. Lasko Group is an exporter of American-made products, and also has an international scope of sourcing, design and distribution of many of its products in international markets.
In the fall of 2015, the Lasko family looked to Flaster Greenberg, longtime counsel, to engage an investment banker, to locate potential parties interested in purchasing their very important and valuable company and the operating subsidiaries associated with it. In light of the ongoing business relationship and the strength of firm’s mergers & acquisitions attorneys, Flaster Greenberg was chosen to lead the process to sell the 110-year-old company.
Flaster Greenberg developed and finalized, with the Company’s other tax advisors, a detailed transactional plan to provide Lasko Group with favorable results. The plan was implemented in preparation for the sale process.
Tami Bogutz Steinberg, a Flaster Greenberg shareholder, served as lead attorney on the matter. She was supported closely by associate Bernard Devieux on many aspects during the acquisition process. For more than a year, they were involved in the entire succession process, including interviewing and selecting qualified investment bankers, working with the bankers from Wells Fargo as they considered potential strategic and financial buyers who were selected to receive preliminary information, multiple levels of due diligence and multiple rounds of expressions of interest. After narrowing down the list, finalists were chosen to mark up a stock purchase agreement in a modified auction process. Shortly after, our attorneys engaged in the coordination and completion of complex negotiations to secure the final agreement and close sale of the stock of Lasko Group to a group consisting of two private equity firms, Comvest Partners and JW Levin Management Partners, together with members of the Lasko family and management who will stay on as investors.
After the conclusion of the transaction, Bill Lasko, in the third generation of family ownership, and CEO of the Company at the time of the sale said: “Keeping in mind the century-old integrity of our company and loyal customers, deciding to sell Lasko Group was a very difficult decision.
With the help of Flaster Greenberg coordinating the sale process among all the parties, the company was able to meet all its sales objectives including upholding the Lasko legacy, protecting our interests, and taking the company to the next level.”
This acquisition is an important one to the business community, and has been reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Business Wire, Financial Buzz, and HomeWorld, among other news outlets.
Additional Flaster Greenberg attorneys who worked on the matter include: Mitchell Kizner & Steve Poulathas
