Lifetime Brands buys Wilton Armetale assets

Garden City-based Lifetime Brands Inc. has bought Wilton Armetale, a privately held, Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of handcrafted tableware and platters.

Lifetime Brands, which sells branded kitchenware, tableware and other products, including Farberware and KitchenAid, acquired the brands, product portfolio and other assets of Wilton Armetale, but not its headquarters in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. Lifetime Brands disclosed the acquisition late Friday. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Wilton Armetale was founded in 1892 by the Wilton Family in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Wilton Armetale products are sold in department stores and specialty stores in the United States and internationally.

The company’s Armetale metal is an aluminum-based alloy with insulating characteristics that help keep hot food hot and cold food cold, Lifetime Brands said.

“The unique properties of Armetale metal make it a desirable addition to the Lifetime Brands portfolio of tableware products,” Lifetime’s president Dan Siegel said in a statement. “Lifetime intends to accelerate the development of new products under this venerable brand.”

Shares of Lifetime Brands dropped 13 cents, or 0.83 percent, to close at $14.95 on the Nasdaq stock market Friday. The company disclosed the deal after the close of regular trading.