The maker of Hoover vacuum cleaners got the go-ahead from a U.S. bankruptcy court to buy the assets of Oreck Corp. of Nashville.
The sale to Royal Appliance Co., the Cleveland-area subsidiary of TTI Floor Care of Hong Kong, is to close July 24.
TTI Floor Care previously closed Hoover Co.’s original manufacturing plant in North Canton. That was after acquiring Hoover from Whirlpool Corp. in 2006.
Royal Appliance plans to pay $17.25 million in cash for Oreck and is taking on debts and other liabilities of the company, according to the Nashville Tennessean newspaper.
Oreck filed for bankruptcy in May, and on Tuesday the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee formally approved Royal as the winning bidder for the assets of Oreck.
A statement from Royal Appliance, in the suburb of Glenwillow outside Cleveland, said that TTI plans to keep Oreck’s Cookville, Tenn., factory open. The plant employs about 200 people.
Most of the Royal vacuum products, including Hoover and Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners, are made in China. The company operates Hoover plants in El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico.
The statement said that Royal officials “will be reviewing the situation with regard to Oreck company-owned stores and will be meeting with the team in Oreck’s Nashville headquarters over the next few days to discuss future opportunities.”
The Nashville Business Journal said that court transcripts show that Royal Appliance probably will “at least downsize Oreck’s Nashville headquarters.”
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.