Victor Innovatex Acquires Quaker Fabric
Canada-based contract upholstery
fabrics manufacturer Victor Innovatex Inc. has acquired certain assets of Quaker Fabric Corp., Fall
River, Mass., for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition includes certain machinery and equipment,
inventory, intellectual property, trademarks and design archives.
Quaker, at one time among the largest jacquard upholstery manufacturers worldwide, shut down its operation suddenly in July and commenced liquidating its assets, citing the inability to meet financial obligations to its lenders. The company’s revenues had eroded over the preceding several years as a result of increasing imports from China and a downturn in the retail furniture market, among other factors; and in August, Quaker filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition to facilitate the liquidation process.
The former Quaker business will become the basis of a new company operating under the name Victor Innovative Textiles LLC. “This will be a new company with a new mindset and a new approach to its customers, and it’s probably going to be focused on profitable product lines,” said Serge Laurier, CFO, Victor Innovatex. The new company will enable Victor to enter new markets and expand existing markets by adding residential and outdoor upholstery fabric lines to its established contract and hospitality lines.
Victor Innovative Textiles expects to begin operations before the end of this year, and has arranged a 10-year lease of a 540,000-square-foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Fall River that was formerly leased by Quaker. “We will transition all equipment from former Quaker plants to that facility over the next six to nine months — more quickly if possible,” Laurier said. “It may be that we will be weaving and doing some yarn manufacturing in existing facilities so that we can start operations as quickly as possible. The customers have already suffered enough because of the closing of the Quaker operations.”
The new company plans to hire employees at all levels, from management and textile design to mill workers and maintenance personnel, including those who lost their jobs when Quaker closed its doors. ”We’re going to be ramping up operations and will be recalling or hiring employees as quickly as production will require,” Laurier said. “If the customers are very quick to get back to us, we’ll have no choice but to ramp our production much faster.”
According to Jean-Pierre Simard, director of marketing, Victor Innovatex, Victor Innovative Textiles will be able to leverage the expertise and skills of Quaker’s former employees and create synergies with Victor Innovatex. “One of the reasons we decided to acquire Quaker is because the former employees have specific expertise in specialty yarns, unique technologies and unique know-how,” he said. “These people are well recognized for their textile expertise and skills.”
Simard said Victor Innovatex, which is known for its environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices and product lines, expects to introduce its sustainable technologies in Fall River as well. “We really feel the residential markets are more willing and excited about green products today, and we believe we can mix our know-how with that of the former Quaker employees and introduce the culture of sustainability and practices. We are developing really sustainable yarns, and [the former Quaker employees] have specific expertise in yarn fabrication to create unique chenille, bouclé, or fancy yarn with our sustainable technology. We are sure we can leverage that and create unique sustainable yarn on demand.”
The acquisition also may bode well for Quaker’s former vendors, as there is a possibility that relationships could be re-established, for example, for the supply of certain yarns. There is also the possibility that some offshore relationships could be established or re-established to provide high-volume, low-margin product lines for less specialized applications that don’t require short lead times.
September 25, 2007
Quaker, at one time among the largest jacquard upholstery manufacturers worldwide, shut down its operation suddenly in July and commenced liquidating its assets, citing the inability to meet financial obligations to its lenders. The company’s revenues had eroded over the preceding several years as a result of increasing imports from China and a downturn in the retail furniture market, among other factors; and in August, Quaker filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition to facilitate the liquidation process.
The former Quaker business will become the basis of a new company operating under the name Victor Innovative Textiles LLC. “This will be a new company with a new mindset and a new approach to its customers, and it’s probably going to be focused on profitable product lines,” said Serge Laurier, CFO, Victor Innovatex. The new company will enable Victor to enter new markets and expand existing markets by adding residential and outdoor upholstery fabric lines to its established contract and hospitality lines.
Victor Innovative Textiles expects to begin operations before the end of this year, and has arranged a 10-year lease of a 540,000-square-foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Fall River that was formerly leased by Quaker. “We will transition all equipment from former Quaker plants to that facility over the next six to nine months — more quickly if possible,” Laurier said. “It may be that we will be weaving and doing some yarn manufacturing in existing facilities so that we can start operations as quickly as possible. The customers have already suffered enough because of the closing of the Quaker operations.”
The new company plans to hire employees at all levels, from management and textile design to mill workers and maintenance personnel, including those who lost their jobs when Quaker closed its doors. ”We’re going to be ramping up operations and will be recalling or hiring employees as quickly as production will require,” Laurier said. “If the customers are very quick to get back to us, we’ll have no choice but to ramp our production much faster.”
According to Jean-Pierre Simard, director of marketing, Victor Innovatex, Victor Innovative Textiles will be able to leverage the expertise and skills of Quaker’s former employees and create synergies with Victor Innovatex. “One of the reasons we decided to acquire Quaker is because the former employees have specific expertise in specialty yarns, unique technologies and unique know-how,” he said. “These people are well recognized for their textile expertise and skills.”
Simard said Victor Innovatex, which is known for its environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices and product lines, expects to introduce its sustainable technologies in Fall River as well. “We really feel the residential markets are more willing and excited about green products today, and we believe we can mix our know-how with that of the former Quaker employees and introduce the culture of sustainability and practices. We are developing really sustainable yarns, and [the former Quaker employees] have specific expertise in yarn fabrication to create unique chenille, bouclé, or fancy yarn with our sustainable technology. We are sure we can leverage that and create unique sustainable yarn on demand.”
The acquisition also may bode well for Quaker’s former vendors, as there is a possibility that relationships could be re-established, for example, for the supply of certain yarns. There is also the possibility that some offshore relationships could be established or re-established to provide high-volume, low-margin product lines for less specialized applications that don’t require short lead times.
September 25, 2007
Advertisement