Unilin Acquires Mt. Gilead Plant

Thomasville, NC, Oct. 31--Unilin Flooring N.V., has signed an agreement with Homanit Inc. to acquire Homanit's MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) plant in Mount Gilead, NC. Homanit is the sister firm of laminate manufacturer Witex. Parties are now awaiting a clearance from the anti-trust authorities to finalize the transaction. The MDF plant has a turnover of $75 million and employs 240 people. The amount of the transaction was not revealed. The acquisition of the Mt. Gilead MDF plant will make Unilin Flooring the first fully integrated producer of laminate flooring in U.S. This further completes Unilin Flooring’s earlier take-over of the Columbia laminate flooring production facility, also in North Carolina. Simultaneously Unilin Flooring announces important and accelerated investments in its North American laminate flooring division. The Unilin group, of which Unilin Flooring is a division, is primarily known as the producer of the Quick-Step laminate flooring brand. The company and its global brand Quick-Step have experienced a rapid expansion during the last five years. In 1997, Unilin Flooring was the first to launch the patented Uniclic-system, which is directly milled in the MDF. This solution for the glueless joining of flooring planks together with other favorable factors--such as a booming economy and the need for hygienic flooring solutions--triggered the accelerated growth of the company. In 1999 the Unilin group started to invest in the production of MDF in France. MDF is the required high performance core material for making laminate flooring. At the end of 2000, Unilin Flooring acquired the European-based Decolam company to ensure its need for more production capacity. In mid-2001 Unilin Flooring bought its first production facility in the U.S., the laminate flooring facility of Columbia Flooring. In the meanwhile major investments were made to further develop the European facilities with additional impregnation, pressing, sawing, milling and distribution capacity. Now with the agreement reached to transfer the Mt. Gilead MDF plant, Unilin Flooring clearly confirms its intention to become one of the leading players on the North American laminate flooring market. This transaction will further ensure that Unilin Flooring will be able to deliver and supply its products in a customized manner.