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Silvestri Finds New Buyer
July 4, 2005
The Silvestri division of Syratech, currently being reorganized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, has been sold to Gift Acquisition LLC, a division of investment and technology development firm The D.E. Shaw Group, New York. Shaw also owns toy retailer FAO Schwarz, mytwin.com, and etoys.com. Silvestri will become a wholly owned subsidiary of etoys.com. According to Edie Lufkin, Silvestri's general manager and president, who has been leading the search for an appropriate buyer, "the synergies [between Silvestri and etoys.com] in distribution and systems are remarkable," enabling an almost seamless transition for Silvestri.
The company will move from the East Boston, MA, Syratech headquarters to a new location in Beverly, MA, by June 1, and will distribute from the etoys facility in Blairs, VA, providing a cost advantage over Silvestri's current California distribution point. All Silvestri employees and artist licenses will remain with the company, and it will maintain all of its current showrooms and overseas offices. Stripping Silvestri entirely from the Syratech structure, rather than selling it off in parts, was one of Lufkin's goals. Syratech acquired Silvestri from Fitz and Floyd in 1996.
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