Parker Pen USA Ltd. has been sold...

Parker Pen USA Ltd. has been sold to British industrial conglomerate Pentland Industries in a deal worth about $326 million, an official the Janesville, Ohio-based firm has confirmed. Eugene G. Rohlman, Parker manager of marketing communications, confirmed a report that Pentland would buy 85% to 90% of Parker for about $287 million. The rest of the equity would be set aside for British executives who led a $100-million management buyout of Parker from Manpower Inc. of Milwaukee in January, 1986. Parker Pen employs about 3,000 people worldwide, including 500 in Janesville, where it was founded in 1888.