Whirlpool has sold its manufacturing facilities in Iowa County to a real estate holding company for $92.7 million, but Whirlpool has a lease with the property’s new owner to continue operations.
Whirlpool makes refrigerators at the plant in Middle Amana. The Corridor Business Journal was first to report the sale of the property. The sale appears to have no impact on jobs. In a written statement, Whirlpool said there will be no short term or long term changes to its operations in Middle Amana.
Transactions that involve the sale of a property that is leased back to the previous owner have become a common way for companies to find resources to do things like pay off debt, buy parts or new machinery and retain workers.
The property on which Whirlpool’s warehouse in North Liberty sits is already owned by a private equity firm, with a lease back to Whirlpool to continue operations there. Whirlpool employs about 2,500 in eastern Iowa.