GHCL to Buy U.K. Retailer Rosebys

Dan River Owner Going Vertical

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 7/3/2006 12:00:00 AM

New Delhi, India — —

New Delhi, India — GHCL Limited has signed an agreement to acquire Rosebys, a major U.K. home textiles retailer. GHCL said the acquisition price is $40 million. The deal is expected to close by October. Rosebys, with more than 300 stores, says it is the leading home furnishings retailer in the United Kingdom. GHCL puts its annual sales in the neighborhood of $250 million.

Several months ago GHCL acquired Dan River Inc., one of the remaining major home textiles mills based in the United States. With the Rosebys acquisition, GHCL will have a presence across spinning, weaving, product design and development, sourcing and distribution to retail stores at a global level. Sanjay Dalmia, chairman, GHCL Limited, said, “This acquisition provides us with an ideal opportunity to leverage Rosebys' established platform across the EU markets and a renowned global brand in order to make GHCL one of the dominant players in the home textile space globally.” “It would be an ideal combination of a low cost, strong manufacturing base with a large established marketing platform to put us on the fast track growth,” he observed. GHCL in India has been expanding its capacity in spinning, from 85,000 spindles to a projected 140,000 spindles by the end of 2007. The company is also constructing a new home textiles manufacturing facility at Vapi, which it said will generate $100 million in revenues when working at 90% capacity.

GHCL, fast becoming one of the leading home textiles firms in India, is part of Dalmia Group. GHCL reported a 2005 net profit of $15 million on sales of $111 million.