Mohawk Industries, Inc. Announces Acquisition Of Spano Group
CALHOUN, Georgia, Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mohawk Industries,
Inc. (NYSE: MHK) announced today that it has entered into an
agreement to purchase Spano Invest NV ("Spano"), a Belgian panel
board manufacturer, for €125 million ($168
million) in cash. Spano's 2012 revenues are estimated at
approximately €180 million ($231
million). The business is expected to be slightly accretive
in the first full year. This transaction is expected to
close in the second half of 2013 and is subject to customary
governmental approvals and closing conditions.
Spano manufactures and distributes chip and melamine board,
which are used to produce furniture and building products primarily
in the Belgian market. Spano became a leader in the chipboard
industry in 1977 when it introduced the first continuous press
operations, significantly increasing its production capacity.
Today, Spano operates facilities in Belgium and has an electricity plant joint
venture that converts waste wood into green energy.
In commenting on the acquisition, Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum, Mohawk's Chairman and
CEO, stated, "The combination of Unilin and Spano will create
significant synergies to bring greater value to our customers and
broaden our product offering. Spano expands not only our customer
base with a focus on different channels of distribution, but also
our knowledge and technical expertise, which we can leverage.
Together, there are many opportunities to optimize manufacturing
assets, raw materials, and production efficiencies. We look forward
to bringing Spano's talented team into the Unilin family."
Certain of the statements in the immediately preceding
paragraphs, particularly anticipating future performance, business
prospects, growth and operating strategies and similar matters and
those that include the words "could," "should," "believes,"
"anticipates," "expects," and "estimates," or similar expressions
constitute "forward-looking statements." For those statements,
Mohawk claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking
statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking
statements will be accurate because they are based on many
assumptions, which involve risks and uncertainties. The following
important factors could cause future results to differ: changes in
economic or industry conditions; competition; inflation in raw
material prices and other input costs; energy costs and supply;
timing and level of capital expenditures; timing and implementation
of price increases for the Company's products; impairment charges;
integration of acquisitions; international operations; introduction
of new products; rationalization of operations; tax, product and
other claims; litigation; and other risks identified in Mohawk's
SEC reports and public announcements.
ABOUT MOHAWK
Mohawk is a leading supplier of flooring for both residential
and commercial applications. Mohawk provides a complete selection
for all markets of carpet, ceramic tile, laminate, wood, stone,
vinyl and rugs. These products are marketed under the premier
brands in the industry including Mohawk, Karastan, Lees, Bigelow,
Durkan, Mohawk Home, Daltile, American Olean, Unilin and
Quick-Step. Mohawk's international presence includes operations in
Australia, Brazil, China, Europe, Malaysia, Mexico and Russia.