MILAN — February 14, 2018 — IMPRIMA S.p.A., the holding company of the multinational group dedicated to textile printing and finishing, has announced the acquisition of City Prints and its twin company Premier Fabrics, both U.S.-based companies specialized in printed textiles.
Imprima, controlled by Wise SGR through the Italian private equity fund Wisequity, now strengthens its strategic positioning, consolidating its global presence as a leading player in the field of printing and textile finishing for international retailers and fashion brands.
City Prints and Premier Fabrics, founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York and Los Angeles respectively, are specialized in textile printing for the programmed collection market. The companies supply printed fabrics, based on proprietary design, to major American retailers such as Walmart, Target and Macy’s; to fashion brands such as Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger; and to online retailers such as Amazon. The companies serve retailers and brands through leading private label intermediaries, currently sourcing prints and garments mainly from China.
As in the case of the previous acquisitions, the brothers Jason and Ryan Borg, co-founders of City Prints and Premier Fabrics, will maintain a leadership role in the management of the companies and become shareholders of Imprima.
“Our entry into the Imprima group is an excellent opportunity to consolidate and increase our commercial positioning in the market, through the introduction of Imprima Group’s brands in the U.S. market and the opening of a digital production facility within the U.S. territory, relying on the technology know-how in digital printing and the financial support that Imprima provides,” said Jason and Ryan Borg co-owners of City Prints and Premier Fabrics, which currently show a consolidated turnover of over $23 million.
“With this acquisition, Imprima deals with the U.S. market with the goal of becoming the first textile converter with full digital printing capability in this local market,” said President Valentina Franceschini, and Executive Vice President Gianluca Boni. “The current deep crisis of American apparel retailers is pushing the industry to reshape its current supply chain strategy, mainly based on sourcing from Far East, towards a European-like fast fashion model. Imprima, through City Prints and Premier Fabrics, will allow local retailers to leverage the “Made in USA” banner to deliver a great creative experience through a local, reliable partner.”
This acquisition of the U.S. companies follows the recent acquisition of the Italy-based print converters SET, Guarisco and B-Blossom and Germany-based print converter KBC.
Posted February 13, 2018
Source: IMPRIMA S.p.A.
