Kennesaw, GA, October 30, 2006--Invista has reached a definitive agreement with Honeywell to purchase, via a wholly foreign-owned enterprise in the Peoples Republic of China, the assets of Honeywell’s nylon 6 bulked continuous filament (BCF) business in Asia Pacific, including its plant in Shanghai, China. Closing is expected in early 2007, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
The purchase will include the plant in Shanghai, China which produces white dyeable and solution dyed nylon 6 BCF. It also has processing equipment to make heathered, twisted and heat-set yarns.
“The goal of this acquisition is to better serve the needs of mill customers and consumers in Asia Pacific by adding locally produced BCF to our present Antron® carpet fiber and Stainmaster carpet offerings. As indicated by our desire to purchase this business, we believe it can create tremendous value. Once the transaction is concluded, we hope to build from its current strengths and apply our resources and capabilities to improve and grow the business. The plant in Shanghai also provides an excellent growth platform for future expansions of our nylon 6,6 business in Asia Pacific,” said Alan Wolk, president of Invista Interiors.
Invista plans to integrate the production and marketing of type 6 nylon BCF into its business offering in Asia Pacific. This will expand the comprehensive portfolio of branded, differentiated and unbranded nylon BCF offerings to customers in this region for the commercial, residential, transportation and rug segments.
“We are constantly evaluating opportunities to grow our business and offer the best value proposition to our customers,” said Dilip Kumar, vice president of Invista Interiors Asia Pacific. “Adding nylon 6 BCF to our product line in Asia Pacific gives us a broader product offering for our customers so they have options to select the right product for their end use applications.”
“Our commitment to growth is clear, said Wolk. “We will continue to focus tremendous energy on finding even more opportunities to meet the growing needs in China, elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.”
Invista currently owns or operates (independently or in ventures) 12 manufacturing facilities producing a variety of products across Asia, including Singapore, Taiwan and China. The Antron brand is well represented in the Asia-Pacific commercial carpet market, in high performance commercial carpets from leading mills in China, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Invista also has a significant share of residential business in Australia and New Zealand with the Stainmaster brand.
