International Market Centers, L.P. (IMC), the world's largest operator of premier showroom space for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries, announced it has completed the acquisition of five additional buildings in High Point, N.C. Purchase of Showplace, Showplace West and three North Hamilton Street showroom facilities marks the culmination of $1 billion investment that unites Las Vegas and many of the High Point home furnishings showrooms under one ownership group and management team. Financial details of the transactions, which were initially announced on May 3, 2011, were not disclosed.
IMC's portfolio now comprises 18 buildings spanning more than 11.5 million gross square feet, including key showroom assets such as the International Home Furnishings Center, the Market Square Complex (consisting of eight properties), Showplace, Showplace West and three North Hamilton Street showroom venues in High Point as well as all of the World Market Center buildings in Las Vegas.
IMC will be holding its first Las Vegas Market events as a combined entity, including Las Vegas Market and Gift+Home, Aug.1-5, followed by the company's first involvement at High Point Market, Oct. 22-27.
"We are pleased that this unprecedented combination of properties is complete, and that these attractive assets have come together under one structure and management team," said Robert Maricich, Chief Executive Officer of International Market Centers. "With the addition of these five premier facilities to our portfolio, we can now devote our focus to our primary mission-- creating the most effective, efficient and compelling platform for our industry. We look forward to working with our wide range of business partners to develop a world-class business-to-business platform for both buyers and sellers in the furnishings, home décor and gift industries."
Maricich leads an IMC management team with more than 90 years of collective experience in the home furnishings and gift industries, including Tom Mitchell, President of Home Furnishings; Katherine Venezia, Chief Financial Officer; Randy Eller, Chief Integration Officer and Georgia Davis, interim President of Gift & Home Décor.
IMC is majority owned by funds managed by Bain Capital Partners and a subsidiary of certain investment funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. Related Companies, Bassett Furniture Industries (NASDAQ: BSET) and affiliates of Network World Market Center are also investors in the company.
About International Market Centers, L.P.
International Market Centers, L.P. (IMC) is the world's largest operator of premier showroom space for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. The company owns and operates 11.5 million square feet of world-class exhibition space in High Point, N.C. and Las Vegas. In addition, IMC operates the Las Vegas Design Center, a year-round resource open to both the design trade and consumers which is comprised of more than 40 showrooms and hundreds of designer brands. IMC's mission is to build and operate an innovative, sustainable, profitable and scalable platform for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. For more information on IMC, visit imcenters.com.