Welspun acquires Christy, UK's top towel brand

 According to an official release issued by Welspun India to the BSE today, following the acquisition, Christy will become a subsidiary of Welspun. The existing Christy management will continue to own the remaining 15% of Christy-issued share capital and will operate it on a stand alone basis. Rajesh Mandawewala, joint MD of Welspun India, has been appointed chairman of Christy by Welspun's board.

From April 1, 2009, Welspun and Christy management shall be able to exercise a put/call option, calculated by a formula based upon FY08 and FY09 EBITDA, to buy/sell the 15% equity interest retained by the existing Christy management.

BK Goenka, vice chairman & MD of Welspun Group, said: "Christy's acquisition strengthens our commitment towards achieving our goal of becoming a globally relevant strategic player in the home textiles segment. Christy's commercial, retail, design and technical excellence complements Welspun's established manufacturing capability and global reach as an international home textile manufacturer. Christy also complements our recent initiatives to develop a more robust model providing global consumers including both UK and US with contemporary products for the Home."

Founded in 1851, Christy is the world's oldest towel manufacturer and is the UK's leading towel brand with an annual turnover of Rs 300 crore. Welspun is the largest terry towel producer in Asia and the fourth-largest in the world.