ONE of Darwen's biggest employers will be sold in a deal worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

The announcement that Borden Decorative Products - the Crown Wallcoverings giant - is to be bought by American-based investors ends months of speculation in the town about the firm's future.

More than 1,000 people are employed by Borden at its Darwen and Morecambe sites. It produces brand names including Crown, Shand Kydd and Storeys and exports to more than 55 countries.

American-based Borden Inc said it had signed an agreement to sell its worldwide wallcoverings business to Blackstone Capital Partners, a fund backed by a New York private investment business.

Blackstone is also in the process of buying American wallpaper giant Imperial Wallcoverings and plans to merge the two businesses. The deal, expected to be worth more than £200 million, is planned to completed by April. The Borden group had signalled its intentions to seek a buyer for the wallcoverings business earlier this year.

Borden Inc said that it was selling off the parts of the business so it could concentrate on its other interests, which include pasta, other foodstuffs and chemicals.

Barry Swarbrick, personnel director at the Darwen site, said the announcement should be viewed with optimism by the 800-strong workforce.

"On balance it is good news although it is still very early on and we don't know all the detail yet. We are the leaders in Europe and if we are merged with Imperial we will be a very strong worldwide force."

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