The US-based textiles manufacturer WestPoint Home (WPH) has announced a $200 million acquisition of a major production business - Bahrain-based Manama Textiles Mills, said a top official at WPH to Bahrain Tribune.

Chris Baker, Chief Operating Officer WPH, said that they were excited with the deal and also announced plans to double the total existing capacity of Manama Textile Mills to 60 million linear yards a year by mid of 2007.

Baker and Bobby Linear, International Relations Officer WPH, also met with the Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Hassan Abdullah Fakhro and briefed him about the acquisition plans.

Baker said that immediate plans include the expansion at the Manama Textile with the construction of a new production facility covering 18,000 square meters. “We are planning to put some new equipment at the facility. In addition we have some state-of-the-art textile units in the US and intend to shift that machinery. With the completion of the project and installation of the new equipment the production facility will be doubled by the mid of next year.”

“Following the expansion, the Manama Textiles will produce about $200 million of textile products for WPH a year. This is a major achievement for us after our first venture in Lahore Pakistan - on a total cost of $80 million. These ventures and expansion plans will make the WPH an international textile manufacturer and not the US-based business only.”

“WPH heritage began almost 200 years ago with the startup of one of our predecessor companies, J.P. Stevens & Co., in Massachusetts, followed by Pepperell Manufacturing Company in Maine and West Point Manufacturing Company in Georgia - three of the most famous names in the textile industry, known for the quality and integrity of their products. Today, as WestPoint Home, we are the nation’s premier manufacturer and marketer of bed and bath home fashions … mattress pads, feather and fiberbeds, bed pillows, sheets, towels and bath accessories, comforters and down comforters, blankets and bedding accessories. Our brands are some of the most trusted and well-known in home fashions - Martex, Grand Patrician, Utica, Chatham, Vellux, Stevens, Lady Pepperell and several others

“Manama Textiles has been an important supplier to the WPH and other US companies over the years and this new initiative will help to forge a long-term growth venture with a leading Bahraini company. Secondly, the tax free access in the industrial sector is also a one of the plus points of this deal. We will continue to explore such opportunities for WPH in future as well.”

Dr. Hassan Fakhro termed the deal a culmination of the implementation of the FTA and the Kingdom’s attractive investment climate in line with the vision of the leadership.