Investment company
buying isle lumber firmThe deal for Honsador Lumber
is expected to close Aug. 30
Honsador Lumber Corp., established in 1935 as Honolulu Sash & Door, is being sold for an undisclosed price to Key Principal Partners Corp., a $1 billion private investment company.
Honsador is the largest lumber supplier in the state, according to Hap Person, president of the Hawaii Lumber Products Association. Person also is president of Honolulu Wood Treating Co. Ltd., one of two Honsador sister companies included in the sale. The other firm being sold is Ariel Truss Hawaii Inc.
The deal is expected to close Aug. 30.
Honsador owner and Chairman James Pappas was off island and unavailable for comment.
Lumber deal
Top Hawaii lumber supplier Honsador is being sold.Buyer: Key Principal Partners Corp.
Acquiring: Honsador Lumber Corp., Honolulu Wood Treating Co. Ltd. and Ariel Truss Hawaii Inc.
Employees: 213; all who want to stay are expected to be kept on
President Terris Inglett deferred comment to Pappas but described the company as "doing great" and the deal as "positive."
Offshore ownership has risks, Person said, but at the same time a larger operator might be able to make additional investments in the state's booming construction sector.
"The need for additional services to meet the growing demand of the industry could possibly be better served," he said. "I don't believe there should be negative effects."
Key Principal Partners officials could not be reached.
KPP, an affiliate of Cleveland-based KeyCorp., intends to retain all 213 employees, "except those employees who may choose to retire or voluntarily terminate their employment," according to a notice filed with the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
KPP also will honor labor agreements covering 61 members of the Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 on Oahu and in Kona, and the 14 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142 on Maui.
The union contracts cover truck drivers, warehouse personnel, wood cutters and laborers.
"We have now opened negotiations on a new contract," said Mel Kahele, Teamsters president. Talks toward a new agreement are under way while members work under terms of a contract that expired May 31. The old contract contains provisions requiring a buyer to accept the union and keep all current union members, Kahele said.
Officials with KPP "have talked to people on my staff, and they seem to be looking at taking over and keeping the status quo," Kahele said. "We're real pleased."
Kahele and William Kennison, ILWU Maui Division director, agree that having a mainland investment bank take over is a long way from dealing with local ownership.
"That's always a concern, but we'll take a cautious, optimistic attitude," Kennison said. "The positive sign is when they come in and retain the work force and the collective bargaining agreement. Initially that tells us they do want to work with the union and the community as well as the workers."
The ILWU's contract expires in 2006. Honsador and its other businesses have operations on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island. The company also maintains a facility in Portland, Ore., where building materials are purchased directly from producers for shipment to Hawaii.