National Spinning Broadens Market Reach With Acquisition Of Carolina Nonwovens

National Spinning Co. Inc., Washington, N.C., has acquired Lincolnton, N.C.-based Carolina
Nonwovens Corp., a manufacturer of airlaid and thermobonded products for automotive, bedding, foam
replacement, furniture, geotextile and insulation applications.

National Spinning, founded in 1921, is an employee-owned producer and distributor of
man-made-fiber dyed and natural yarns for a range of end-uses, and operates five manufacturing
facilities in various locations in North Carolina. Through its Hampton Art LLC division, it has a
presence in the growing consumer craft products and scrapbooking markets. In December 2011, the
company sold certain assets of its Caron International craft division to Canada-based craft yarn
manufacturer and distributor Spinrite LP. According to National Spinning President and CEO James W.
Chesnutt, National Spinning will continue to manufacture yarn for Spinrite, which will finish and
distribute the yarn from a facility it is refurbishing in Washington.

Established in 2006, Carolina Nonwovens is now operating as a wholly owned division of
National Spinning under the name Carolina Nonwovens LLC. The company is in the process of hiring a
manager, and Jim Booterbaugh, vice president and general manager of National Spinning’s Yarn
Division, is handling oversight of Carolina Nonwovens in the interim. Greg Gerald continues to be
responsible for sales. Currently, the division has about 15 employees and produces durable nonwoven
fabrics using natural, man-made and recycled fibers. Chesnutt said there are plans to install
another line, possibly a needlepunch line, at the 75,000-squre-foot Lincolnton facility.

“We’re excited to enter another part of the textile business,” Chesnutt said, noting that
National Spinning had been looking at other textile opportunities in the Piedmont region for some
12 to 18 months and felt that Carolina Nonwovens would fit well strategically with the company’s
other businesses. “While it is not our core business, it is fiber, and after being in the fiber
business for 91 years, we understand fiber,” he added.

March 27, 2012

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