McCulloch Corp. Names Chairman

Walter F. Probst, one of the 13 investors who participated in a leveraged buy-out of McCulloch Corp. two years ago, Friday was named chairman of the Los Angeles-based manufacturer of chain saws and other power equipment.

The position had been vacant since April, 1983, when a group comprising seven McCulloch executives and six outside investors bought the company from Towson, Md.-based Black & Decker Manufacturing Corp. for undisclosed terms. Probst has been a director of the company since then.

Donald V. Marchese, another member of the investor group, continues as president and chief executive. Neither Probst nor Marchese was available for comment Friday.

At the time of the buy-out, McCulloch had been losing money and the investor group expressed optimism that it could turn the company around. While the privately held company doesn’t disclose financial results, a spokeswoman noted that “we wouldn’t still be in business” if McCulloch were still in the red, and that the company has successfully expanded its power-tool product line since the buy-out.

McCulloch employs about 1,200 and has manufacturing plants in Arizona and Italy.