A longtime Illinois tool plant appears poised to shut down after a buyout bid for the company fell through.
KHQA-TV in Hannibal, Missouri, reported Friday that Vaughan and Bushnell would close the doors to its factory in Bushnell, Illinois, after more than 150 years.
Marshalltown Manufacturing, an Iowa tool and construction supply maker, was in talks to acquire the company amid financial troubles, but ultimately ended up walking away from the deal.
The move will result in layoffs of the facility’s workforce of 130.
KHQA cited Bushnell Mayor Robin Wilt, who told the station that the city made every effort to keep the doors open.
WGEM-TV in Quincy, Illinois, reported that Marshalltown offered $4.5 million of a $5 million price tag for the company. The city council had authorized incentives to make up the difference, but Marshalltown officials told the network in a statement that “the timing just wasn’t quite right.”
Vaughan and Bushnell, which operates as Vaughan Manufacturing, was founded after Alexander Vaughan received a patent for a post augur in 1869. It produces hammers, saws and other tools.
The company did not respond to an inquiry from WGEM, and no date was given for the final closure of the facility.
