Oneida Agrees to Buy Sakura for $40 Million

Oneida Ltd., the world’s largest maker of stainless steel and silver-plated flatware, agreed to buy closely held Sakura Inc. for about $40 million. Sakura, based in New York, is the marketer of casual and theme dinnerware for Target Corp., Dillard’s Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Oneida, based in Oneida, N.Y., also said its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 10% to $7.5 million, or 45 cents a share, from profit from operations of $6.8 million, or 40 cents, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue was unchanged. In the year-earlier quarter, a pretax charge of $32.8 million and an inventory write-down of $3 million gave Oneida a loss of $18.4 million, or $1.11 a share. Shares of Oneida rose 13 cents to close at $18.69 on the New York Stock Exchange.