Steinway sells out

Steinway Musical Instruments, the famed manufacturer of pianos that double as status symbols, has agreed to be bought by private equity firm Kohlberg & Co. for $438 million.. German immigrant Henry Engelhard Steinway founded Steinway & Sons in 1853, in a loft on Varick Street in Manhattan's lower west side. He was a master cabinet maker who built his first piano in the kitchen of his home in Seesen, Germany. (thanks, Aileen Graef!)