Move over Boyds bears, there's another paw in the plush cage. The company that owns The Boyds Collection, Our Name is Mud and Bob Olszewski's Gallery of Light gift brands recently bought GUND, the plush company known for its teddy bears.

Enesco, LLC, recently announced its early July purchase of the 110-year-old family company business. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

"The decision to sell our family's business ... was not easy," Bruce Raiffe, chairman and CEO of Edison, N.J.-based GUND, says in a statement. "Enesco has an appreciation for our associates with whom I feel fortunate to have worked with for many years."

Raiffe will retire from GUND but continue to serve on company's board of directors, reports ChicagoBusiness.com.

Officials with Itasca, Ill.-based Enesco say the acquisition is consistent with the company's strategy of "becoming a global leader in the gift, garden and home décor markets by internally building, buying and licensing the premier brands in the industry."

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

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