ATLANTA, July 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Interface, Inc.
(NASDAQ: IFSIA), the world's largest manufacturer of modular
carpet, today announced that it has entered into a definitive
agreement to sell its Bentley Prince
Street division in a transaction valued at $35 million.
Bentley Prince Street will be
sold to Dominus Capital, a private investment firm, in partnership
with Bentley Prince Street President Anthony Minite and other members of the
company's senior management team. The transaction is expected
to close in the coming few weeks, subject to customary closing
conditions.
For Interface, the sale will allow the global company to focus
management and business strategy entirely on its core modular
carpet business, while strengthening its balance sheet. As an
independent company with sales in excess of $100 million, Bentley
Prince Street will be positioned as the largest California-based commercial carpet company
continuing to offer broadloom, carpet tile and area rugs.
Los Angeles-based Bentley Prince Street has been a part of the
Interface family of companies since 1993, when Bentley Mills was acquired by Interface.
Bentley was merged with Prince Street Technologies, another
Interface subsidiary, in 2002, when broadloom operations were
consolidated on the West Coast.
"Bentley Prince Street has the
distinction of being an iconic brand in the marketplace," said
Dan Hendrix, chairman and CEO of
Interface, Inc. "Anthony and his team have contributed a
great deal to our company's success, and in particular, to our
sustainability journey. For nearly 20 years, our Bentley Prince Street colleagues have journeyed
with us in reducing our negative impacts on the environment with
the highest degree of integrity. I know they will continue to
be a sustainability leader, while expanding the boundaries of
commercial carpet design, manufacturing and customer service."
Bentley Prince Street will
continue to operate in California
under the leadership of Anthony
Minite, who now assumes the additional role of CEO.
Minite said that daily operations will continue as normal.
"While the purchase may represent a change in ownership, it does
not represent any change in Bentley Prince Street's commitment to
delivering quality products and customer service, something the
company has done continuously since 1979," said Minite.
"Being privately owned will be a return to Bentley Prince Street's
entrepreneurial roots and afford the company, as well as its loyal
customers, the opportunity to write the next chapter in its rich
history."
Ashish Rughwani, Partner at
Dominus Capital, added "We are excited to partner with Anthony and
the rest of the management team in this investment. We look
forward to supporting them as they continue to expand their
industry leading product portfolio and further build-out their
roster of dedicated clients around the globe. In addition to making
a substantial financial commitment to Bentley, we look forward to
utilizing our previous experience in the floor covering industry,
as well as our network of industry executives, to assist management
in achieving its growth plans."
About Bentley Prince Street
Defining style, color, quality and service for over 30
years, Bentley Prince Street
manufactures and markets award-winning broadloom, carpet tile and
area rugs for commercial interiors across the globe.
Bentley Prince Street is committed
to sustainable commerce and innovations to integrate style and
function with environmental practices. With the industry's
most comprehensive vertical carpet manufacturing facility, the
company maintains third-party certification to the ISO 9001:2009
Quality Management System and the ISO 14001:2004 Environmental
Management System. Based in Los
Angeles County, California, Bentley
Prince Street operates in a LEED-EB® Silver carpet mill and
is the largest commercial carpet manufacturer in California. For more information, please visit
www.bentleyprincestreet.com and http://bpscarpet.blogspot.com.
About Dominus Capital
Based in New York, Dominus
Capital is a leading middle-market private equity investment firm
that focuses on management-led buyouts and growth capital
investments in companies in the business services, light
manufacturing and consumer sectors. Drawing on the
experience, knowledge and network of its founders and a team of
in-house operating executives, Dominus Capital works hand-in-hand
with exceptional management teams to unlock the untapped potential
of its portfolio companies. The firm takes a long-term and
conservative approach to investing and has a consistent and
successful track record of achieving significant growth at its
portfolio companies. The Dominus Capital team members have
executed over 40 transactions over the past 20 years. For
more information, please visit www.dominuscap.com.
About Interface, Inc.
Interface, Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of
modular carpet, which it markets under the Interface,
FLOR, Heuga and Bentley
Prince Street brands, and, through its Bentley Prince Street brand, enjoys a
leading position in the designer quality segment of the broadloom
carpet market. The Company is committed to the goal of
sustainability and doing business in ways that minimize the impact
on the environment while enhancing shareholder value.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information
contained herein, the other matters set forth in this news release
are forward--looking statements. The forward-looking statements set
forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement,
including risks and uncertainties associated with economic
conditions in the commercial interiors industry as well as
the risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "Risk
Factors" included in Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1,
2012, which discussion is incorporated herein by this
reference, including, but not limited to, the discussion of
specific risks and uncertainties under the headings "The ongoing
worldwide financial and credit crisis could have a material adverse
effect on our business, financial condition and results of
operations," "Sales of our principal products have been and may
continue to be affected by adverse economic cycles in the
renovation and construction of commercial and institutional
buildings," "We compete with a large number of manufacturers in the
highly competitive commercial floorcovering products market, and
some of these competitors have greater financial resources than we
do," "Our success depends significantly upon the efforts, abilities
and continued service of our senior management executives and our
principal design consultant, and our loss of any of them could
affect us adversely," "Our substantial international operations are
subject to various political, economic and other uncertainties that
could adversely affect our business results, including by
restrictive taxation or other government regulation and by foreign
currency fluctuations," "Concerns regarding the European sovereign
debt crisis and market perceptions about the instability of the
euro, the potential re-introduction of individual currencies within
the Eurozone, or the potential dissolution of the euro entirely,
could adversely affect our business, results of operations or
financial condition," "Large increases in the cost of
petroleum-based raw materials could adversely affect us if we are
unable to pass these cost increases through to our customers,"
"Unanticipated termination or interruption of any of our
arrangements with our primary third party suppliers of synthetic
fiber could have a material adverse effect on us," "We have a
significant amount of indebtedness, which could have important
negative consequences to us," "The market price of our common stock
has been volatile and the value of your investment may decline,"
"Our earnings in a future period could be adversely affected by
non-cash adjustments to goodwill, if a future test of goodwill
assets indicates a material impairment of those assets," and "Our
Rights Agreement could discourage tender offers or other
transactions for our stock that could result in shareholders
receiving a premium over the market price for our stock." Any
forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only
as of the date made. The Company assumes no responsibility to
update or revise forward-looking statements made in this press
release and cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any
such forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Interface, Inc.