ZEELAND, Mich.- Herman Miller (NASDAQ: MLHR  ), the office furniture manufacturer,  is buying New York's Maharam Fabric Corporation in an all-cash deal valued at $156 million.

Maharam is a privately owned fabric jobber, specializing in contract fabrics and trendy residential fabrics. It was founded in 1902 by Louis Maharam in New York City. Today, Maharam is a fourth-generation, family-run business. First renowned as a supplier of theatrical textiles, in the 1960s Maharam pioneered the contract textile concept, developing engineered textiles for commercial application. In 1984, Maharam introduced Tek-Wall, the contract furniture industry's first high-performance textile wallcovering.

Maharam had previously designed fabrics for Herman Miller. Michael and Stephen Maharam will stay on with the company in management for the next two years, the pair said.

Herman Miller announced the purchase of the textile jobber Wednesday, April 24 and said the deal is expected to close April 29. Herman Miller CEO Brian Walker called the purchase "a natural and complementary union" and one that combines the firms' respective "operational strengths and resources [to] provide immediate, mutual strategic leverage."

Herman Miller is paying a significant premium to acquire Maharam. The purchase price of $156 million is nearly 1.5 times the value of Maharam's annual sales. By way of comparison, Herman Miller's own share price reflects only a 0.8 price-to-sales ratio. Nonetheless, Herman Miller assured investors that it expects the deal to be immediately accretive to earnings.