Lawson Products to cut 100 jobs

Lawson Products Inc., which received state tax incentives to move its headquarters from Des Plaines to Chicago, said Thursday it is cutting about 100 jobs as part of an overall corporate restructuring plan,

The company said in a release that the cuts will represent about 11 percent of its current workforce.

According to published reports, staffing levels will fall below the level needed to qualify for the state incentives this year.

Lawson said it will eliminate several senior executive positions, including the open chief operating officer position. The company expects the cuts to result in a one-time severance charge of about $7 million for the second quarter of 2012.

Lawson also expects to complete other cost-cutting measures that are expected to save the company $20 million, the company reported.

“We have made significant progress over the past 18 months in the transformation of the company,” Lawson President and CEO Thomas Neri said in a statement. “At the same time, we have consolidated a number of units and sold two noncore operations, which represented approximately $80 million of annual revenue at the time of their sales.

“The company is taking the steps it believes necessary to build the foundation of operational excellence required to succeed,” he said.

Last year, Lawson moved its headquarters from Des Plaines to Chicago with help from a $7.8 million tax incentive package from the state of Illinois. The company also leased a 306,805-square-foot facility in southwest suburban McCook, where it plans to consolidate its three Illinois inventory and processing locations into a Midwest hub later this year.

Lawson said it has also received a commitment letter from its lender to replace its existing credit facility with a new five-year, $40 million facility.

The company said it anticipates it will record pretax charges for the second quarter of about $40 million, of which $33 million will be noncash.