Thai firm buys Comer for £30m

The textiles company, Comer International, based in Co Kilkenny and Co Donegal, has been taken over by a Thai company in a deal worth over £30 million. Comer's managing director, Mr Michael Brooke, said the deal with the Thai company, Indoworth, had been made so that operations could be globalised.

Comer International employs a total of 380 people, divided equally between its divisions in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, and Bunbeg, Co Donegal. It is a world leading producer of Trevira wool lycra, a stretch fabric which is "very much a fashion item today", Mr Brooke said. Up to 70 per cent of its £44 million annual sales are in France and Germany.

NatWest and Midland banks' 82.5 per cent stake had been bought out and the 10 directors who owned the remaining 17.5 per cent stake have received a share in Indoworth, a Thai producer of worsted yarn.

Mr Brooke will continue as managing director with responsibility for worldwide development of Comer and Indoworth's spinning division, which has a £28 million turnover.

"We felt for a long time small, stand-alone companies are not going to be successful in the world textile markets in the future," he said.

As part of the deal, there was a small debt consideration provided by Ulster Bank, he added. The deal had been approved by the State development agency for Gaeltacht areas, Udaras na Gaeltachta, which has supported the Bunbeg operations. There is a £7 million capital investment commitment from Indoworth, £2 million of which would be used to replace equipment and £5 million to expand the business, although there would not be significant numbers of new employees.

Indoworth is owned by the Indorama group, the 15th-largest world producer of polyester, whose managing director is a Thai businessman of Indian descent, Mr Anil Lohia.

Mr Brooke said his and Mr Lohia's views on how globalisation needs to go with textiles were similar. "They are committed to capital investment in Ireland. They have made that very clear," he said.

Comer had remained competitive through developing top-end, value-added yarns, "in order not to come head to head with developing Asian economies". Comer had been investing about 2 per cent of its turnover in research and development.

"We now have an Asian sister company. Maybe we will have one in Eastern Europe. My current brief is to look at the next acquisition or the next stage of development," he said. The company was bought from a Canadian venture capital group, Innocan, for £21 million in a management buyout in 1994. Mr Brooke said NatWest and Midland were "satisfied their time frame had been met" and were looking for an exit.

"I have been looking for the past year-and-a-half for a suitable partners to replace the UK banks." Comer International was originally established in 1968 by Cleyn & Tinker of Montreal. In 1972 its Bunbeg division, Comer Yarns, was set up.

The company has three Irish directors, Mr Tom Rothwell, Mr Ger Bissett and Ms Cathy Crowley, and two German directors, Mr Nick Rocholl and Mr Robert Jarausch.