Navistar Intends To Buy RV Assets Of Monaco Coach

TIM FOUGHT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Navistar International Corp. said Thursday it has signed a nonbinding letter of intent buy Monaco Coach Corp.'s recreational vehicle manufacturing business.

The announcements from the two companies did not mention a price for the deal. But they followed a filing in federal bankruptcy court by Monaco that said the company had a $50 million deal to sell its core business in the works.

Navistar, based in Warrenville, Ill., builds engines, school buses and trucks. Coburg-based Monaco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month amid a plunge in RV sales.

The two companies said they planned to work toward a purchase agreement by mid-April.

Earlier, Monaco said that if the offer went through, "jobs would be preserved for the local communities so heavily affected by the (company's) current circumstances and certain creditors would be benefited by the continuation of (its) business lines," according to court documents.

Monaco filed for bankruptcy protection March 5. The company is continuing to operate, although its stock has been delisted.