In 1960 Sunbeam acquired the John Oster Manufacturing Company, a rival maker of household appliances best known for its Osterizer food blender. Then in 1981 Sunbeam was acquired by Pittsburgh-based Allegheny International Corporation, a broadly diversified manufacturer of industrial and consumer products. Allegheny merged its household air pollution control devices and bathroom scale businesses into the Sunbeam division. A major downturn in sales in Allegheny's other divisions, along with poor executive management and heavy debt associated with the Sunbeam acqui¬sition, forced Allegheny into bankruptcy in 1988. Mutual fund manager Michael Price, hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt, and financier Paul Kazarian teamed up to buy Allegheny from its creditors in 1989. Kazarian was installed as CEO to get things turned around. He quickly focused all efforts on housewares and outdoor furniture, and the company was renamed Sunbeam-Oster. An international division was established to extend the company's marketing reach. In August 1992, Sunbeam-Oster went pub¬lic, allowing the original investors to convert a portion of their ownership into cash. However, Kazarian's management style proved controversial and, when six top exec¬utives complained to the board about his hard-driving manner and erratic behavior (also reported in a very unflattering article that appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal), Kazarian was removed as CEO in January 1993. (He later sued over his removal and won a settlement of $160 million.)