Acquisitions: Out of Bankruptcy with a Bang

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Only three years ago, Wickes Cos., a diversified Los Angeles-based retailer, was nearly broke. Last week the revived firm was suddenly a big spender. Wickes, which emerged from 33 months of bankruptcy-law proceedings in January, agreed to pay $1 billion in cash for the consumer- and industrial-products groups of Gulf & Western Industries. Included in the sale are the units that manufacture Burlington hosiery, Simmons mattresses and some clothing that is licensed to carry the Calvin Klein and Liz Claiborne designer labels. The acquisition will nearly double Wickes' annual sales, to about $6 billion.

The company's comeback is the work of Chairman Sanford Sigoloff, who has made a career of saving ailing firms through tough cost-cutting moves that have won him a nickname taken from the Flash Gordon comic strip: Ming the Merciless. When Sigoloff came to Wickes in 1982, he closed down several unprofitable divisions. After losses in 1982 and 1983 totaling $507 million, the company had net income of $296 million in its last fiscal year. To bankroll the Gulf & Western deal, Wickes has been issuing new stock and securities. About $500 million is in hand, and Sigoloff anticipates no trouble in raising the rest of the $1 billion price tag.