Signal buying Bender

MOBILE, Ala. - Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Inc. is being purchased by Signal International Inc., and will become known as Signal Ship Repair. The $31.25 million deal was made at a bankruptcy auction in New Orleans and should be finalized around January 22. Dick Marler, Signal's president and chief executive officer, said the company will invest $5 million in capital improvements initially. The other bidder was Vision Technologies System, parent company of Pascagoula’s VT Halter Marine, which in December said it wanted to buy Bender for $21 million. Bender sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this past summer. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 01/15/10; WKRG-TV, 01/15/10)