SALE PARTNERSName: LifetouchHistory: Founded in 1936Staff: 22,175 employeesSales: $1.07 billionCEO: Paul HarmelHeadquarters: Eden Prairie, Minn.Locations: 700 photo studios in J.C. Penney and Target stores and 15 stand-alone storesName: Olan Mills Inc.History: Founded in 1932Staff: About 4,000CEO: Olan Mills IIHeadquarters: ChattanoogaLocations: Thousands of studio sites in Kmarts, Belks, Macy’s and MeijersDivisions: Church directories, its top revenue generator with about 60 percent of the market, and studio portraitSource: Hoover’s Inc., Forbes Inc.
One of Chattanooga’s most recognizable companies changed hands Wednesday when photography icon Olan Mills was bought by competitor Lifetouch Inc.
Lifetouch, headquartered outside Minneapolis and the nation’s largest employee-owned photography company, expects to hire nearly all of Olan Mills’ 4,000 employees, including the 475 in Chattanooga, officials said.
The purchase price wasn’t announced.
Olan Mills II, the 80-year-old Chattanooga company’s longtime chairman and chief executive and the son of its founder, said combining the two businesses is a logical step.