HUDSON, Ohio (AP) - A northeast Ohio-based company owned by the same family since before the Civil War is being sold to Netherlands-based conglomerate Akzo Nobel.
On Monday, Akzo, the world's largest coatings company, said it acquired the company for an undisclosed price.
No cuts are expected for the Flood Company, where about 130 workers manufacture wood finishing products, said Peter Flood, the outgoing chief executive officer.
The sale marks the end of an era, however, for the company that was founded by Flood's great-great-uncle as a Cleveland boat and buggy painting business in 1841. The company eventually moved about 30 miles southeast to Hudson and switched its focus to manufacturing paint additives and wood finishing products.
The Flood Company generates $55 million in revenue annually and will join Akzo Nobel's decorative business unit. In 2005, Akzo Nobel's coatings division brought in $7 billion of the company's $17 billion in sales.
The buyout adds to Akzo Nobel's growing presence in the state. The company already employs about 400 people at facilities in Brecksville, Cleveland, Columbus and Springfield.
