Thomas Industries Inc. said it agreed to sell its stake in Genlyte Thomas Group LLC to the Genlyte Group Inc. for about $400 million in cash.
Louisville, Ky.-based Thomas said it would sell its 32-percent stake in the company plus 32 percent of Genlyte’s earnings, less distributions to Thomas, from Jan 1, 2004, through the closing of the deal, which is set for the end of July.
Larry K. Powers, president and chief executive officer of GTG and chairman, president and CEO of The Genlyte Group, said, “We are pleased that we are able to accomplish our long-term goal that we set in 1998 when we combined the lighting businesses of Genlyte and Thomas to form our operating entity, Genlyte Thomas Group LLC. The transaction will have no impact on the sales, marketing, or operations of GTG. The GTG operating division management structure and the corporate management structure of Genlyte and GTG will not change as a result of the transaction.”