P.M. BRIEFING : L.A. Company to Buy Manischewitz Kosher Food Firm for $40.4 Million

A deal has been struck to sell B. Manischewitz Co., the 100-year-old maker of kosher for Passover matzos and other kosher foods, to a Los Angeles company for $40.4 million.

The sale to Levine, Tessler, Leichtman & Co. must be approved by Manischewitz’s stockholders, who are scheduled to meet in May. The board of directors, including Bernard Manischewitz, a retired president and member of the founding family, has given its approval.

Levine, Tessler agreed to pay $762.75 each for the company’s 53,065 shares. Although Manischewitz trades on the Cincinnati Stock Exchange, most of the shares are held by members of the Manischewitz family and close associates.

Dov Ber Manischewitz founded the company in Cincinnati in 1888. The family opened a second matzo bakery in Jersey City in 1931 and moved all operations to New Jersey in the 1950s. The company licenses out its name to the firm that makes Manischewitz wine.

Manischewitz now employs 225 people in Jersey City. In 1988, the company earned $2.92 million on sales of $29.5 million.