LADD Shareholders Approve Combination With La-Z-Boy

Furniture World Magazine

At a special shareholders' meeting held in Greensboro shareholders of LADD Furniture, Inc. (Nasdaq: LADF) approved the previously announced acquisition of LADD by La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB), with 75.9% of LADD's total outstanding shares voting in favor, and only 2.2% of the outstanding shares voting against or abstaining. The transaction will become effective on January 29th, following the filing of appropriate legal documents. Thereafter, LADD will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of La-Z-Boy. Shortly after the effective date, each outstanding share of LADD's common stock will be exchanged for 1.18 shares of La-Z-Boy common stock, with a total of approximately 9.2 million shares of La-Z-Boy stock to be issued overall. LADD's stock will no longer be traded after January 28th. LADD chairman and CEO Fred L. Schuermann, Jr. will continue to head the LADD operation following the combination with La-Z-Boy. Schuermann said at the Greensboro meeting that he was pleased with the affirmative vote and was eagerly looking forward to LADD's becoming part of La-Z-Boy, which he described as, "far and away the best-known consumer brand name in our industry." He added, "LADD's shareholders will exchange their common shares for a much more liquid, dividend- paying stock that's listed on the New York Stock Exchange and which arguably represents the residential furniture industry's leading manufacturer." He concluded, "We expect that the combination of LADD's successful furniture product lines, proven managerial talent and outstanding workforce with those of La-Z-Boy will produce an extremely well-positioned and formidable industry leader." La-Z-Boy chairman Pat Norton commented, "We are confident that the combined companies will be a positive force in our industry -- for our dealers, our shareholders, and our employees. We are pleased to welcome all of the various LADD constituencies into the La-Z-Boy family of companies." Following the combination with LADD, Monroe, MI-based La-Z-Boy Incorporated will have annual sales in excess of $2 billion and a market capitalization of more than $900 million, with approximately 21,000 employees and 57 manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, England, Mexico and Thailand. In addition to La-Z-Boy, the company's major brand names include American Drew, American of Martinsville, Barclay, Bauhaus, Centurion, Clayton Marcus, England/Corsair, Hammary, HickoryMark, Kincaid, Lea, Pennsylvania House, Pilliod and Sam Moore. La-Z-Boy's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LZB. Additional information about La-Z-Boy can be found on the company's website at http://www.lazyboy.com .