New owners of Southland Industries Inc. plan to expand the firm's business in specialty sealing systems made of plastic and other materials for automotive applications. Southland of Norfolk, Va., was bought June 2 by John Dannenhoffer, president for the past four years, and J. Herbert Ogden, chairman and chief executive officer of Westfield Capital Corp., a management holding company based in Stamford, Conn.
They bought the firm for undisclosed terms from the Epstein family of Norfolk, which founded Southland in 1941.
Southland's three plants include an injection molding and die facility in Virginia Beach, Va. Officials did not disclose equipment details for the 45,000-square-foot plant.
Southland has a fabrication and specialty products facility in Virginia Beach, a die cutting plant in Chesapeake, Va., and automotive support center in Southfield, Mich.
Dannenhoffer said in a prepared statement that the company wants to do more business in plastics and plans to develop total sealing systems for a major automaker's 1997 and 1998 models. He was unavailable to elaborate.
Southland's core business is producing automotive powertrain sealing systems. It also makes sealing systems and plastic components for electronics, aerospace, medical and other markets using plastics, rubber and cork.
The company, which employs 400, had sales of more than $43 million in 1994, 80 percent of which was automotive related.
