HELMOND, The Netherlands—Informed sources say Vescom B.V. , a 54-year-old company based in Deurne is in the final stages of discussions with the Dutch bankruptcy administrator for the purchase of J.A. Raymakers & Co B.V., a 250-year-old velvet mill here and its sister company British Velvets in the UK.
The talks between Vescom and the Raymakers bankruptcy administrator involve final legalities that are expected to lead to the restart of the Raymakers factory here which has been closed since October.
Philippe Van Esch is the CEO of Vescom, a company founded by his father, Joop Van Esch, in 1971. Vescom is a specialist in contract fabric production with mills in the USA (Vescom America Inc.) Germany and Holland with sales in the $150 million range. Vescom is a producer of upholstery, curtaining and wallcovering exclusively for the contract market.
Raymakers is a producer of velvet primarily for the residential market, but it also offers a range of contract velvets. It is not known right now what plans Van Esch has for this potential acquisition, but it could take several directions.
Rumors of the Vescom acquisition have been floating through the textile industry for the last few weeks.
Vescom Group embodies all the operating companies within Vescom worldwide.
Prior to its bankruptcy, Raymakers was previously owned by Lantal in Portugal.