Seasonal products maker General Foam Products Corp. is for sale.
General Foam CEO Bill Arnold told Plastics News that the owners want to sell the company as a whole, and have hired Hilco Corporate Finance LLC of Northbrook, Ill., to help find a buyer.
General Foam makes a wide range of seasonal and decorative products. It recently notified North Carolina's Department of Commerce that it will start laying off workers in Tarboro, N.C., beginning Oct. 15 for a scheduled shutdown of the facility by the end of 2017. Arnold said the company will continue operating and filling orders through the end of the year while it seeks a buyer. If a purchaser is not found the owners plan to shut down entirely and exit the plastics business.
"Several years ago General Foam lost a lot of revenue to competitors," Arnold explained. "They tried to differentiate themselves but were unable to compete effectively."
Arnold said the private owners of General Foam hope to keep employees working at its operations while it seeks a buyer. The owners prefer not to sell the business piecemeal.
"People are going through the plants now," Arnold noted. The owners have not yet put together an asset list.
In addition to Tarboro, General Foam manufactures at its Norfolk, Va., headquarters; San Bernardino, Calif.; and Juárez, Mexico. It does injection and blow molding.
General Foam's owners also own Beckett Corp. of Irving, Texas. They plan to continue with that business of making submersible pumps, water garden items, fountains and related products.
General Foam products range from Christmas trees, pumpkin pails for Halloween, children's pools, Easter items and similar products. Some goods are imported from China.