Himatsingka buys Divatex

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 7/3/2007 11:29:00 AM

New York– The third-largest supplier of sheets in theU.S.market, Divatex, has been acquired by Bangalore-based Himatsingka Seide Ltd.. In the completed transaction, Himatsingka purchased 80% of Divatex.

Publicly traded Himatsingka, known primarily as a leader in the manufacture of high quality silk yarns and fabrics, has only recently added the ability to produce home textiles products such as bedding. The company, which had sales of Rs Lakhs 17,416 or $428.6 million for the 12 months ended March 31, is helmed by executive director Aditya Himatsingka.

Divatex founder Avi Gross will continue as president and ceo of Divatex, the company said. Gross launched Divatex in 1990 as a product development and sourcing service specializing in cotton goods. As a major supplier to such retailers as Bed Bath & Beyond and JCPenney, Divatex sales of sheets and pillowcases was $169 million in 2006, HTT research shows. The company has sourcing staff around the world, and warehousing capacity in the United States.

Divatex vp merchandising Shay Zamir told HTT that the merger is one between “two very strong companies, with very strong balance sheets” and the parties look forward to collaborating on their respective strengths.

Zamir noted that Himatsingka has, over the past several years, invested more than $100 million in new production facilities in Hassan, India. The company has received recognition for its ISO 9001 industrial quality certification, and has installed environmentally-conscious production systems.

“They have a great managerial culture,” said Zamir, “and they decided they need a strong entity here to do marketing and distribution,” hence the acquisition of Divatex.