Lancaster, Pa. — Armstrong World Industries Inc., a manufacturer of tiles and panels for ceilings and walls, has acquired Turf Design Inc., a felt ceiling and custom wall maker in Chicago with annual sales of about $25 million.
Turf's products are used in commercial interior design applications and are primarily made from recycled PET from water and soda bottles. The business operates from an 8,000-square-foot innovation center and design showroom in downtown Chicago and a 75,000-square-foot fabrication facility in Elgin, Ill.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Lancaster-based AWI said in a news release that it funded the transaction with available cash and its revolving credit facility.
AWI sold more than $1 billion of commercial and residential ceiling, wall and suspension systems in 2019.
The Turf acquisition enhances AWI's sustainability commitment, design and manufacturing capabilities, and portfolio of architectural specialty ceilings and walls. Turf's felt contains up to 60 percent recycled content.
AWI wanted to expand into felt offerings to meet increasing demand for acoustical and sustainable interior products, according to AWI CEO Vic Grizzle.
"Felt is one of the fastest-growing specified products in the architectural specialty product space. Turf is the category leader that architects and designers have come to depend on to bring their creative designs to life. Turf also has a strong profit profile that will be accretive to our architectural specialties segment," Grizzle said in a news release.
Turf will continue to operate from its current facilities and retain its company name, brands and organizational and go-to-market structures. Also, the Turf independent representative network will remain intact to complement AWI's current sales model.
Turf rapidly developed the felt category and established itself as the innovative leader in the space, according to AWI Ceiling Solutions Senior Vice President Charlie Chiappone.
"Turf's success is clearly attributable to a commitment to inspirational design, innovation and customer service by every member of their team. We look forward to growing with them and to building upon their success by leveraging the brand, scale and market reach of Armstrong," Chiappone said in the release.