Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. said Wednesday that it has signed an asset purchase agreement to sell its struggling motor home business which employs hundreds in Decatur to a New York-based private equity firm.

The company said in a written statement that American Industrial Partners Capital Fund IV plans to purchase the assets for $53 million, but the bid is subject to a reduction for the assumption of certain liabilities not to exceed $18 million. The price is also subject to an adjustment for the amount of current assets purchased at the time the transaction closes, the release said.

Although AIP is willing to buy the business, because Fleetwood filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, the sale process requires the company to entertain other competing bids.

"We do expect, however, that the final purchaser will seek to take advantage of the Fleetwood name and legacy, as well as endeavor to preserve as many jobs as possible," said Elden L. Smith, Fleetwood's president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Fleetwood notified the Indiana Department of Workforce Development in April that 443 of its 700 Decatur employees had worked less than half their normal hours in the previous four months. They were expected to continue working less than half time through May, the company said.

Just after announcing in March that it filed Chapter 11, Fleetwood laid off 170 from its Decatur operations. It also closed a travel-trailer plant in Edgerton, Ohio, idling 175 employees. Fleetwood eliminated 550 jobs in Decatur last year.

Earlier this year, company spokeswoman Heather Everett said Fleetwood planned to keep as many people as it could on payroll and receiving benefits. That would enable the company to have a qualified, trained workforce when orders rebound.