Doughty Hanson Buys Balta
London, England, Jun. 15--Doughty Hanson & Co., a London-based buyout firm, agreed to buy Balta Industries NV, a family-owned Belgian maker of rugs and carpets, for 600 million euros ($723 million).
Balta, based in Sint-Baafs-Vijve, had sales of 460 million euros in 2003, Doughty Hanson said in a statement. The textile company, currently led by Filip Balcaen, the son of the founder, was started in 1964 and employs about 3,500 people.
Doughty Hanson specializes in buying family businesses, which it seeks to expand before selling to another company or to investors in a share sale. Last month the London-based firm shelved a stock sale for German car-repairer ATU Auto-Teile-Unger AG.
Balta has "excellent growth potential," Yann Duchesne, head of Doughty Hanson's Paris office, said in the statement. Balta competes with Shaw Industries Inc., a U.S. carpet maker owned by billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Doughty Hanson also buys assets from companies seeking to raise money to cut debt. In January, it bought Alcatel SA's batteries unit in France, called Saft, for 390 million euros.
Credit Suisse First Boston and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc are arranging acquisition loans.
Related Topics:Shaw Industries Group, Inc.
