George and Julie Mosher, founders of Milwaukee-based multititle mailer National Business Furniture, have hired New York-based investment bank Gruppo, Levey & Co. to facilitate the sale of the company.
The 30-year-old cataloger had sales of $118 million last year. In addition to the eponymous catalog, National Business Furniture owns the Dallas Midwest and Alfax titles, which sell furniture primarily to schools, churches, and the federal government; OfficeFurniture.com; and FurnitureOnline, a Website selling furniture to consumers.
Mosher, who expects the sale to take place within six to eight months, says family health issues are the primary reason. But behind that black cloud, he says, is one silver lining: The mergers and acquisitions market is healthy, so he should fetch a fair price. What’s more, the market for office furniture has improved, so “we’ll be in a much better position dealing from strength not weakness.”
In a letter to suppliers alerting them of the sale, Mosher wrote, “Of course we do not know who will buy our company, but there is an active market for well managed mid market companies, so we expect the sale will go smoothly with little or no impact on our suppliers. We expect that whomever buys the company will want to build it beyond its current level of success, so we think you can look forward to an even stronger association and greater prosperity.”