North American Heritage Brands (NAHB), Faribault, Minn., through Faribault Woolen Mills, has
acquired Globaltex LLC, doing business as Bates of Maine, Lewiston, Maine. According to the
companies, the merger initiates what may be a new key force in American home textiles.The Bates
mill will remain and expand in Lewiston. It currently occupies 100,000 square feet of the
1.2-million-square-foot, city-owned Bates Mill complex and employs approximately 120 people.The
acquisition brings together two of the countrys most respected brands in home textiles, said Warren
Malkerson, CEO of NAHB and Faribault.Malkerson projects that Bates sales, currently at $8.5
million, will nearly double in 1999 and double again in three years. New equipment, including
additional looms and expanded dye-house capacity have already been installed at Bates.Emile Clavet,
who has been president of Bates, and CEO Kevin Dean, are shareholders of NAHB and will remain
involved on a consulting basis.
February 1999
