According to Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc., Armstrong Flooring (Lancaster, Pa.) announced it will sell its entire wood flooring segment to an affiliate of American Industrial Partners (AIP), a private equity firm, for $100 million. Armstrong, once the largest manufacturer of wood flooring, said will “intensify” its focus on growing its resilient flooring business following the divestiture of its wood floor segment.
The sale is expected to be finalized by the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, after which AIP plans to operate Armstrong’s six U.S. wood floor manufacturing plants as a separate wood flooring company. AIP will own the Bruce brand and all other wood flooring segment brands, and it will “have full access to the Armstrong Flooring brand” for two years after the sale. The divestiture of the wood flooring segment will lead to about 50 job cuts at Armstrong’s headquarters, according to industry reports.
The sale comes after years of declining sales in the company’s wood flooring segment. According to a 2017 report by Catalina Research, Armstrong lost considerable market share over the previous decade, with wood flooring sales declining by 42 percent over that period. Most recently, wood flooring sales fell 1.9 percent in 2016 and 11 percent in 2017. Armstrong’s 2018 third quarter sales released Nov. 6 showed an 11 percent decline year-over-year for its wood flooring business. Armstrong’s six manufacturing facilities in the U.S. employ approximately 1,700 employees.
