Wellington, New Zealand, September 29, 2006--Australian carpet maker Godfrey Hirst has made an unconditional bid to buy debt-laden New Zealand rival Feltex Carpets Ltd as a going concern, receivers said on Friday, while their main rivals pulled out.
Feltex was placed in receivership by the ANZ Bank on Sept. 22, after the bank said it was taking too long to resolve the carpet maker's financial problems, including a debt of A$120 million ($90 million) owed to the bank.
"Godfrey Hirst wishes to acquire all of Feltex's assets and undertakings in New Zealand, Australia and the USA," receiver Colin Nicol said in a statement.
The statement did not give details of the offer.
Godfrey Hirst, a privately owned carpet maker, withdrew a NZ$141.8 million offer for Feltex on Sept. 6 because it thought it would be opposed by shareholders, but had also said it remained interested.
"The receivers are currently evaluating the offer and will announce further details within the next few days," Nicol said.
However, a New Zealand based consortium headed by bedmakers Graeme and Craig Turner said they would not pursue their interest because they could not assess the damage done to Feltex's reputation and business by the receivership.
"On that basis, we advised the receivers we were not prepared to make a bid for Feltex Carpets in accordance with their process," the Turners said in a statement.
The Turners had proposed a NZ$51 million capital injection package and new working capital.
Feltex's production and trading operations were continuing satisfactorily, but there was evidence that customer support was at risk, if a credible new owner was not secured in the short term, he said.
Feltex has around 1,300 staff in New Zealand and Australia. It and Godfrey Hirst are the two biggest carpet makers in the region.
