Investor Seeks 50% Stake in CasaBlanca Fan Firm

An investor has offered to purchase 50% of the stock in CasaBlanca Industries in City of Industry, company executives said Tuesday.

The offer was received by Diana Corp., a Milwaukee firm that owns about 50% of CasaBlanca, according to Jerry Holland, CasaBlanca’s chief financial officer. CasaBlanca’s stock, which is traded on the American Stock Exchange, closed Tuesday at $8.875, down 62.5 cents.

CasaBlanca’s subsidiaries produce ceiling fans, lamps, chandeliers and other lighting fixtures. Diana, a diversified company, owns retail sales operations in Wisconsin, Ohio and New York.

The value of the offer and the identity of the bidder were not disclosed.

Diana Corp. Chairman Richard Fisher said he did not know the value of the bid or the identity of the bidder. He said Bear, Stearns & Co., the New York investment house handling negotiations for Diana, would present the proposal later this week.

“Unless we found that the offer is terribly attractive, we probably wouldn’t sell,” Fisher said.

Michael McDonald, legal counsel at Diana, said the offer may have been prompted by a statement that Diana issued in November saying it was willing to consider offers for its stake in CasaBlanca.

The prices of the zinc and nickel used in ceiling fans and some lamps have risen 50% during the past 12 months, hurting the company’s bottom line, according to John Pearson, CasaBlanca’s controller.

For the six months ended Dec. 31, CasaBlanca lost about $387,000 on sales of about $30.2 million, Pearson said. For the 12 months ended June 30, CasaBlanca earned about $3.3 million, compared to $4.1 million during the previous year.