This case implicates an extension of Ramirez v. Amsted Industries, Inc., 86 N.J. 332 (1981), decided this day. We there held that where one corporation acquires all or substantially all the manufacturing assets of another corporation, even if exclusively for cash, and undertakes essentially the same manufacturing operation as the selling corporation, the purchasing corporation is strictly liable for injuries caused by defects in units of the same product line, even if previously manufactured and distributed by the selling corporation or its predecessor. In Ramirez the successor corporation was the only viable corporate entity plaintiff could sue for his injuries; his remedies against the original manufacturer and an intermediate corporation had been destroyed by the successors acquisition of all the business assets of its predecessors, which subsequently dissolved. The question now before us is whether the Ramirez standard may be extended to impose liability on an intermediate successor corporation -- one that acquired all the business assets from the original manufacturer and thereafter transferred those assets to its successor and discontinued the offending product line, all several years before plaintiffs accident occurred.
