The city of Atlanta is negotiating to land another corporate headquarters, this time the parent company of noted mattress brands Serta and Simmons.
The recruitment effort was disclosed in materials for the board of Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm. A deal to relocate Serta Simmons Bedding LLC from Illinois to the Two Alliance Center tower in Buckhead would result in 110 new jobs that pay an average annual salary of $140,000, the documents said.
Simmons Bedding Co., the subsidiary over the Simmons mattress brand, is currently based in metro Atlanta and its offices will not be affected. The Serta brand headquarters will remain in suburban Chicago, a spokesman for Serta Simmons Bedding said.
Serta is known for its Perfect Sleeper and iComfort models, while Simmons is best known for its Beautyrest line.
Atlanta is competing for the parent company with cities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Illinois, according to the Invest Atlanta documents reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The AJC first reported Monday that Invest Atlanta is also in negotiations to attract the headquarters of Sandy Springs-based payments processing company Worldpay US, and more than 1,200 high-paying jobs.
The Invest Atlanta board is expected to meet Thursday morning to consider incentives for Worldpay US, Serta Simmons Bedding and a third company, MaschioPack, a German plastics firm that is considering Atlanta for a manufacturing facility in the Atlanta Industrial Park on the Westside of the city.
Invest Atlanta has offered up to $50,000 in local incentives to Serta Simmons Bedding, which will require approval of the agency’s board and the Atlanta City Council. Serta Simmons Bedding is also eligible for state jobs tax credits.
An Invest Atlanta spokeswoman declined to comment.
Serta Simmons Bedding and Worldpay share a common owner, global private equity firm Advent International. In 2012, Advent acquired majority stakes in both the parent of Simmons and the majority owner of Serta, brands that have been rivals for decades.
MaschioPack plans to invest about $12 million in a manufacturing center where it will make 275-gallon and 330-gallon plastic containers for “bulk” liquids, according to city documents. The facility is expected to create “at least” 30 new jobs, and the German firm is also considering Charlotte, Macon and Birmingham, according to the documents.
About the Author