LL Flooring has officially sold 216 stores; its inventory; its massive distribution center in Sandston, Va.; and the company’s intellectual property to F9 Investments.
With the finalized sale, ownership goes back to company founder and former CEO Tom Sullivan, and the company’s name returns to Lumber Liquidators, Sullivan’s private equity firm F9 said in a media release.
“We are excited to have Lumber Liquidators be once again a part of the F9 Investments family,” Sullivan said in a statement. “It is a natural complement to our F9 Brands portfolio of companies.”
On Sept. 6, Sullivan’s private equity firm, F9 Investments, reached a deal to buy LL Flooring days after LL Flooring announced it was closing all its stores and liquidating. A bankruptcy court then approved a $40–$43 million sale of LL Flooring to F9.
As part of the deal, F9 agreed to keep jobs for up to 1,000 employees at the stores.
Lumber Liquidators will now be led by Jason Delves, president and CEO of F9 affiliate F9 Brands.
Sullivan founded Lumber Liquidators in 1994 and served as president and CEO from 1994–2006. Sullivan briefly returned to his role as CEO in 2015 three months after “60 Minutes” aired its investigation into the formaldehyde content of the company’s Chinese-made laminate products.
The company eliminated Sullivan’s position in 2017, but he made multiple attempts to purchase the company afterwards.
A complete list of Lumber Liquidator store locations can be found at www.lumliq.com.
