Leggett & Platt will sell the Culp Aluminum Alloys plant in Steele, Ala., to Wabash Alloys of Wabash, Ind., and an aluminum tool-and-die plant in Oakdale, Minn., to an undisclosed purchaser. Wabash said it will retain all 60 employees of Culp Aluminum. The Oakdale plant also employs 60 people.
The company said it will idle a commercial fixture plant in Wooster, Ohio, that employs 100 workers and makes parts for the telecommunications industry.
"Our hope is that as the telecom business comes back, and it might take a while, we would like to start that plant back up," company executive Dave DeSonier said Friday.
The company is negotiating to sell an unidentified aluminum die-cast plant and plans to idle another undisclosed plant. DeSonier said the company expects to make announcements on both locations by Sept. 30.
Selling or closing the five plants is expected to cost Leggett & Platt between $11 million and $13 million. The five plants employ 350 people out of the company's overall work force of about 32,000 worldwide.
In a statement, Linwood, Pa.-based Foamex said it will sell its carpet cushion business for about $70 million. The deal will make Leggett & Platt the world's largest producer of carpet cushion, with projected annual revenues of almost $400 million.