The city gained a new $2 billion corporate citizen — and some of its history — on Tuesday when MeadWestvaco Corp. agreed to sell its paper-making business to a New York investment firm that will base the new company in Dayton.Cerberus Capital Management L.P., a private holding company with more than $14 billion in assets, will pay $2.3 billion for the as yet unnamed new company. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter.
Cerberus, formed in the early 1990s, owns a variety of companies including Georgia Pacific Lumber, Fila Sportswear, Formica, Alamo Car Rental and Mervyn's Department Stores.
MeadWestvaco, with 30,300 employees, has 900 in Dayton. The paper-making business, with $2.3 billion in annual sales, will have 6,300 employees, including 200 in downtown Dayton on Courthouse Square. The other 700 employees will remain in Dayton with MeadWestvaco, according to spokeswoman Donna Cox in Connecticut.
I wasn't happy to see Mead merge with Westvaco and set up their headquarters in Connecticut so I see this as good news.
The employees seem to be upbeat about the announcement.
