(Updated, 2:30 p.m.)
TAUNTON – Reed & Barton Corp., the 186-year-old silver manufacturer, has acquired Lunt Silversmiths Inc. of Greenfield, Mass., which filed for bankruptcy protection late last year. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Privately held Reed & Barton will continue to use the Lunt brand on frames, baby goods, hollowware, sterling flatware and other items sold under that label, CEO Tim K. Riddle said.
“With the acquisition complete, we can now concentrate on fast-tracking production and rebuilding inventory levels to provide the Lunt customer with reliable product availability and customer service,” Riddle said in a statement.
Kim Madden, a spokeswoman for Reed & Barton, said Lunt’s operations would be consolidated into Reed & Barton’s West Britannia Street complex in Taunton.
Lunt listed about $3 million in both assets and liabilities when it filed for bankruptcy in mid-December, according to Gift & Decorative Accessories, a trade publication.
In November, Lunt President James Lunt told The Daily Hampshire Gazette the company’s sales dropped 30 percent in 2008 from the prior year. The company’s work force had shrank from 124 to just six during the past decade, he said.
Reed & Barton currently has 102 full- and part-time employees, down from about 150 in December 2008, Madden said.
Additional information is available at reedandbarton.com.
