UXBRIDGE, England — January 22, 2019 — Industrial thread manufacturer Coats has sold its North America Crafts business to Spinrite, a craft company and provider of craft knitting yarns in North America.
Spinrite produces both branded and private label products and has a diversified presence across multiple channels with a focus on craft retailers. Founded in 1952, it is headquartered in Listowel, Ontario, Canada. It is well positioned, experienced and connected to drive the NAm Crafts business forward.
Approximately 560 North America Crafts employees, will become part of Spinrite. The manufacturing site and distribution center in Albany, and the sites in Toccoa and Douglas will transfer to Spinrite ownership. The sale includes the well known Crafts brands Red Heart, Coats & Clark, Aunt Lydia and Susan Bates. Anchor, Dual Duty XP and J&P Coats will be licensed for varying terms.
Rajiv Sharma, group chief executive, Coats, said: ‘We are proud of our 120 years of crafts heritage in North America and the long association we have had with crafters but the crafting market has evolved in the past decade. This requires a higher degree of specialization, scale, innovation and digital capabilities to succeed. The sale of our standalone North America Crafts will have a stronger future with Spinrite. It also allows us to focus complete attention on our high performing business-to-business global Apparel and Footwear, and Performance Materials segments.’
The initial cash consideration payable at completion is $37 million. The sale which is conditional upon a limited number of conditions usual for this type of transaction, is anticipated to complete during the coming weeks. Proceeds from the sale will be used to make further value accretive acquisitions in the strategic focus areas of high-tech Performance Materials and Software Solutions businesses.
Posted January 24, 2019
Source: Coats Group Plc
