The directors of Gorham's Ltd. yesterday ended speculation of a possible buyout of the company and announced the sale of the business to the company's managers and Kitson and Company.

Although details of the buyout were not provided, a statement by the parties involved said: "On May 28, 2002, a number of the extended Gorham family, including Sir Richard Gorham and Mr. & Mrs. A.E. Wilkie, sold their interest in Gorham's to the managers of the business and to Kitson & Company Ltd. The managers included Rod Ferguson, Andrew Mackay, Henry Durham, John Gartner and Rod Farrington."

In making the announcement yesterday, the directors also said that Mr. Ferguson, who had been a director and general manager of the company since 1976, had retired as general manager as of June 1 and that Andrew Mackay had been promoted to the position of general manager and company secretary. Mr. Mackay has worked for Gorham's for ten years.

The statement added: "Henry Durham, widely known for his extensive knowledge of the massive range of products that Gorham's sells, was promoted to the position of assistant general manager."

Mr. Ferguson is the new chairman of Gorham's Ltd. and Kirk Kitson, who is president of Kitson & Company, is the new deputy chairman. In yesterday's announcement, the directors said: "Gorham's True Value Home Centre is a very successful business with exciting plans for further expansion. The store is ranked as one of the top 25 stores in TruServ's six and a half thousand stores worldwide and it actually is the number one store for purchasing volume in their international accounts."

The statement concluded: "The staff are very excited about all these changes and they have already demonstrated their enthusiastic support for the new management team. It is quite remarkable that this dynamic retail operation employing 70 full time and 11 part time employees is 99 percent Bermudian."

The company was founded by A. J. Gorham in 1945 as Gorham Lumber Co. Ltd., and the ownership has essentially been retained since that time by the five children of A.J. Gorham, namely Lillis Stockwell, Grace Brooks, Sir Richard Gorham, Elizabeth Kitson and Joan Wilkie.

Kitson & Company was founded in 1947 by Commander Geoffrey Kitson and Elizabeth Gorham Kitson.