SC-MILLIKEN-&-COMPANY
11.6.2019 18:15:04 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Milliken & Company (“Milliken”), a global diversified manufacturer with more than a century and a half of textile expertise, today announced that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Polartec, LLC (“Polartec”), a strong global brand known for its innovative performance textiles for outdoor and military apparel, from Versa Capital Management, LLC (“Versa”). The acquisition is expected to close in June. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190611005819/en/
Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, the Polartec brand carries a respected portfolio of fabric technologies for outdoor apparel, from performance-driven and consumer-focused textiles, to flame-resistant, workwear and military-grade fabrics. The addition of the Polartec brand—particularly its outdoor and fleece textiles—rounds out Milliken’s comprehensive portfolio, allowing the company to deliver unprecedented access to a range of performance textiles for consumers, industrial workers and military personnel around the world.
“Polartec brings a wealth of new and respected outdoor textile expertise to complement Milliken’s strengths,” shared Halsey Cook, president and CEO of Milliken & Company. “The strategic acquisition broadens our textile capabilities with a product offering to now include fleece and soft-shell outerwear, among others, allowing us to grow in new and exciting spaces.”
“With more than 150 years of textile innovation, Milliken is the best possible ‘natural owner’ of a brand with Polartec’s pedigree. I look forward to supporting the integration,” said Polartec CEO Gary Smith. “I’m grateful to Versa Capital Management for their support in realizing Polartec’s full potential, and I’m extremely proud of the global Polartec team for their dedication and hard work that put the company in the position it is in today.”
“We look forward to growing Polartec’s strong brand at Milliken,” said Jeff Price, president of Milliken’s Performance and Protective Textiles Division. “Polartec expands our regional manufacturing reach and grows our technological expertise, enabling us to further deliver innovative performance textiles to the global market.”
“Milliken provides the perfect platform to ensure the continuation and acceleration of the success of the Polartec brand after years of complex and transformative business repositioning by Gary Smith and his team,” said Greg Segall, CEO of Versa and chairman of Polartec. “It has been a great collaboration with Gary and all of Polartec’s valued employees, and we are proud of all that has been accomplished during Versa’s ownership—notably the feat of reviving an American textile icon and powerful global brand into an enterprise equipped to succeed in today’s highly competitive markets. Milliken is the ideal long-term owner for Polartec, and we look forward to seeing the two companies achieve big things together.”
Versa acquired the assets of the former Malden Mills in 2007 through the then 101-year-old textile manufacturer’s third reorganization. Working with management, the business was transformed, renaming the company Polartec, reorienting it toward a technology- and innovation-led growth strategy, and revamping the company’s leadership, operations, manufacturing footprint and customer relationships.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
Versa and Polartec were advised by Lazard Middle Market and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Milliken & Company was represented by Jones Day.
To learn more about Milliken’s Performance and Protective Textiles Division, visit textiles.milliken.com .
About Milliken
Milliken has been solving everyday problems
with innovative solutions for more than 150 years. Our research, design
and manufacturing expertise reaches across a breadth of disciplines
including specialty chemicals, floor covering, and performance and
protective textiles. An unwavering commitment to ethics guides our work
to redefine how we add strength and protection to products, how we
infuse vibrancy and color into our surroundings, and how we care for the
environment. For us, success is when discoveries made within Milliken
help us all have more meaningful connections with the world. Discover
Milliken at www.milliken.com
,
and join us on Facebook
,
Instagram
,
LinkedIn
and Twitter
.
About Polartec, LLC
Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts,
Polartec is the premium provider of innovative and sustainable textile
solutions, combining innovation with eco-engineering to provide
relevant, market-applicable textile solutions. Since inventing modern
technical fleece in 1981, the engineers at Polartec continue to advance
the science of fabric, creating fabric technologies that solve problems
and improve the way products are designed and used. Polartec products
range from lightweight wicking and cooling fabrics, to insulation and
weather protection textiles, and are utilized by leading consumer
brands, the U.S. Military and other global militaries, flame resistance,
workwear, and contract upholstery markets. For more information, please
visit www.Polartec.com
and follow Polartec on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
About Versa Capital Management, LLC
Versa Capital
Management, LLC is a private equity investment firm focused on control
investments in special situations involving middle market companies and
their management teams. Versa focuses on businesses in a diverse array
of industries where value and performance growth can be achieved through
enhanced strategic, operational and financial management. For more
information, please visit www.Versa.com
.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190611005819/en/
Contact:
Polartec and Versa Capital Management Abernathy MacGregor Chuck Dohrenwend or JP Letourneau cod@abmac.com / jpl@abmac.com 212.371.5999
Milliken & Company Mollie Williams mollie@mwilliamscg.com 864.419.6204
Liz Morris liz@mwilliamscg.com 864.918.5196
Social Media:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Quectel Expands Combo Antenna Portfolio with Rugged Multi-network Solutions for Demanding IoT Deployments25.6.2026 10:00:00 CEST | Press release
Quectel Wireless Solutions, a global end-to-end IoT solutions provider, has expanded its external antenna portfolio with four new combo antennas designed to simplify deployment of connected devices across smart cities, fleet management, industrial automation, utilities, public safety and transport applications. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260625825719/en/ Quectel expands combo antenna portfolio with rugged multi-network solutions for demanding IoT deployments The new YEMA206J1AM, YEMA301J1AM, YEMN308L1BM and YENA00L5AH antennas combine cellular, Wi-Fi and GNSS technologies in rugged, compact form factors that help engineers accelerate product development while ensuring reliable connectivity in demanding outdoor and industrial environments. Featuring IP67-rated enclosures, high inter-antenna isolation, flexible mounting options and support for multiple wireless standards, the antennas provide a versatile so
Safe Software Appoints Nabil Lodey as Its First EMEA Senior Executive to Drive Regional Expansion25.6.2026 10:00:00 CEST | Press release
Nabil Lodey joins as VP EMEA to lead Safe Software's expansion across the region, bringing deep geospatial industry expertise and an established network across the partner and customer ecosystem. Safe Software (Safe), creator of FME, the only All-Data, Any-AI enterprise integration platform, today announced the appointment of Nabil Lodey as VP EMEA, where he will drive growth in the company's presence and customer base across the region. His appointment builds directly on Safe's operational expansion into the UK and Ireland, announced in June 2025. Nabil joins Safe from 1Spatial, a long-standing Safe partner and FME reseller, where he served as Managing Director for the UK and Ireland. He brings a deep, first-hand understanding of Safe's business and of the FME Platform, having worked closely with the technology and its customer base. That familiarity positions him to further accelerate Safe's regional expansion plan while deepening the company's commitment to support clients and partn
Floward Scales Customer Service to Handle 13x Peak Demand With Infobip AgentOS25.6.2026 10:00:00 CEST | Press release
AI-powered customer service enables seamless experiences during peak seasons Global AI-first cloud communications platform Infobip has partnered with Floward, the leading online flower and gifting company in the Middle East and the UK, to transform customer service using AI agents on Infobip’s AgentOS platform. By moving beyond traditional rule-based chatbots to agentic AI, Floward now handles up to 13x higher peak-day conversation volumes while maintaining fast response times and high customer satisfaction. As a same-day delivery business built around major occasions such as Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Ramadan, Floward experiences intense seasonal demand spikes. Working with Infobip’s AI consultants, Floward redesigned its customer journeys on Infobip AgentOS, deploying a multi-agent system that intelligently routes conversations to specialized AI agents for tasks such as address collection, FAQs, and order changes, with seamless escalation to live agents when needed. A key inn
ISC 2026: KAYTUS Unveils Gigawatt-Scale AI Infrastructure and Intelligent Management to Empower Europe’s AI Future25.6.2026 09:02:00 CEST | Press release
End-to-end, fully factory-prefabricated modular AI Factory deployment in just a few months, with full-stack intelligent management from GPU to rack, to the entire data center. KAYTUS, a leading provider in AI infrastructure and liquid cooling solutions, unveiled two core solutions at ISC 2026, designed for next-generation AI data centers: a gigawatt-scale, fully prefabricated containerized liquid-cooled data center solution and KSManage Ultra, an intelligent operations management platform for AI Factories. Together, the solutions target the escalating efficiency, performance, scalability, and reliability requirements of AI-era infrastructure, enabling faster deployment, optimized thermal management, and unified operations across large-scale AI computing environments. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260625809392/en/ KAYTUS prefabricated containerized liquid cooled data center solution The KAYTUS gigawatt-scale
LR Health & Beauty SE Successfully Completes Financial Realignment – Strong Foundation for Growth and Long-Term Partnerships25.6.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
Successful completion of the financial realignment enables full focus on growth and further strengthening operational excellence Planned investments in production and logistics will enhance efficiency, flexibility, and delivery capabilities Further international growth, including expansion into new markets, targeted LR Health & Beauty SE, Europe’s leading social commerce company for high-quality nutritional supplements and beauty products, has successfully completed its financial realignment, establishing the foundation for the company’s stable and forward-looking development. With the achievement of the final milestone, an intensive and demanding process has been successfully concluded. LR has fundamentally realigned its financing structure and significantly strengthened its capital base. An initial financing tranche of EUR 10 million was provided at the end of March, followed by a second tranche of the same amount in June. Jörg Körfer, CEO of LR Health & Beauty SE, comments: “The pas
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom