Upscale patio furniture maker Tropitone Furniture Co. of Irvine has sold a majority stake to private equity firm Pfingsten Partners LLC of Deerfield, Ill.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Tropitone has yearly sales of $100 million and 600 workers, including 350 in Irvine.
Pfingsten buys manufacturing, distribution and media companies in the $25 million to $100 million yearly sales range. Other investments include North American Sports Media Inc., based in New York, and Norcraft Cos. of Eagan, Minn.
The deal is a coup for Tropitone Chief Executive Michael Echolds, who started his career at the company straight out of high school, cleaning up the factory floor and welding together pieces of patio furniture.
Now Echolds has overseen the deal of his career, selling a majority stake in the company and retaining a “significant” stake in Tropitone, according to the company.
Echolds, who became chief executive in 1995, is set to stay on.
The company was sold by the heirs of founder Burt Baker, an aeronautical engineer who started the business in Florida more than 50 years ago.
Doug Baker, chairman and third generation owner, decided to sell the company earlier this year. Baker and his sister, Angella Baker, have been the principal owners since 1992.
Echolds and Doug Baker are close, like brothers, Echolds said in an interview with the Business Journal earlier this year.
Tropitone makes outdoor chairs, loungers and tables. The company ships 1,500 products a day. In 2006 it handled more than 40,000 orders.
Half of Tropitone’s sales come from resorts and other business. The other half comes from sales through stores. The Irvine Company buys Tropitone’s poolside furniture for its apartment complexes.
