DyStar, a leading supplier of products and services to the textile industry, has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Texanlab, the Thane, India, based textile testing institute. The agreement, details of which will not be disclosed, will allow DyStar to expand its global service offer. Texanlab will continue to operate independently.

Texanlab was founded in 1973 and is one of the largest independent textile testing institutes in Asia. Located in four cities in India, Texanlab is an accredited test institute for international brands and retailers. The laboratory has 95 employees and performs third-party quality-control testing on garments, made-ups, textiles, and on dyes and auxiliaries used in textile processing. Apart from testing, the company also analyzes fabric defects. Texanlab is a leading institute in the area of ecological testing.

Ullhas Nimkar, former proprietor of Texanlab, is upbeat about the acquisition: “We look forward to working with DyStar. It serves the textile industry worldwide and has extensive expertise in textile manufacturing. Together we will be an even stronger partner for our customers and can play an even greater role in the fast-growing textile testing market in Asia”.

DyStar sees Texanlab as a key step forward in providing comprehensive solutions that add value throughout the textile industry’s supply chain. Texanlab’s portfolio is an excellent fit with its Testing Solutions and Ecological Solutions service packages. Peter Zinser, Head of DyStar’s Asia-Pacific Region, stresses the significance of this acquisition: “Texanlab is a big addition to our range of products and services for the textile industry. It supports our vision of building a bridge between international textile retailers, brands and mills in Asia. We facilitate color development and color communication and help our customers with implementation in the textile mills. Through Texanlab we can now test textiles to ensure they meet the necessary quality and ecological specifications.”

DyStar is owned by Los Angeles-based investment firm, Platinum Equity and is the global market leader in textile dyes and has steadily expanded its offering for the textile industry. In 2002 it acquired Color Solutions, the leading supplier of color standards for the textile industry, and now offers the most extensive and best-established color communication system on the market. Following the acquisition of Rotta in 2005 and Boehme in 2006, DyStar now supplies a full range of textile auxiliaries as well as textile dyes and services.