Last modified: Friday, July 6, 2007 1:45 AM EDT Firm buys Samsonite BY MICHAEL GELBWASSER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF MANSFIELD - Luggage giant Samsonite was sold Thursday for $1.11 billion, and now the company plans to move its world headquarters from London to Mansfield. Mansfield has been the company's North American headquarters since it moved into the Cabot Business Park 18 months ago. Samsonite has agreed to be bought by CVC Capital Partners Ltd., a London-based private equity company. The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter. Samsonite President of the Americas Tom Korbas was unavailable for comment Thursday. The price of $1.49 a share is a 12 percent premium from the company's closing price Tuesday on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board. Samsonite had about 742.1 million shares outstanding as of June 8, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Including the assumption of debt, the deal is worth about $1.7 billion. Samsonite moved 120 jobs to the Mansfield industrial park from Warren, R.I., in December 2005 after Mansfield voters approved a five-year, $285,789 tax break at a special town meeting held on Dec. 6, 2005. The headquarters at 575 West St. in the Cabot Business Park opened during a June 21, 2006, ribbon cutting attended by then-Gov. Mitt Romney and other state and local officials. At that time, Samsonite pledged to add 22 jobs over the next three years. Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.