The 390 employees of Blackwood Brothers, the Ayrshire carpet yarn makers, face an anxious weekend awaiting details of the deal announced late yesterday which has sold the company for #1.
The business is being sold by Dawson International to a new company Blackwood Holdings set up by private investor John Partridge, who is said to have long experience in the carpet business but has yet to reveal his rationale for the deal or his plans.
He is being joined in the venture by the existing management team of managing director Bob Smith, production director Jim McKie and technical director Stuart Grafton.
The net assets being sold are worth approximately #4m, but losses for 1998 were #100,000.
Dawson International said: ''In view of the recent losses, which have continued during the current financial year, and the subdued nature of the carpet yarn sector, the business has been sold for a nominal sum of #1.''
Blackwood employs 330 at Kilmarnock and 60 at Cumnock. Last month Dawson's chief executive Peter Forrest said the business would be sold as a going concern and that the buyers were ''committed to manufacturing in Kilmarnock''.
He added that as far as he knew operations would also continue at Cumnock.
David McCorquodale at Dawson's advisers KPMG commented: ''It is a loss-making business that is continuing to make losses, Dawson has not got the management time needed, and this business has effectively been for sale for some time.''
Dawson said the disposal reinforced its strategy to focus on becoming a niche cashmere business, disposing of non-core loss-making companies, and it built on the disposals earlier this year of Yorkshire-based Dawson Fur Fabrics and the two US businesses JE Morgan and Duofold.
Last month Dawson put Pringle of Scotland up for sale, as it announced interim pre-tax losses of #10.6m. Pringle has already attracted interest from potential international buyers and is set for disposal by the end of the year. Its two plants at Galashiels and one at Hawick employ a total of 400.
Dawson is also in discussions to sell its woollen yarn business Laidlaw & Fairgrieve which employs 180 at Dalkeith and 80 at Selkirk.
Dawson shares closed down half-a-penny at 30p.
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