Desso, the global carpets, carpet tiles and sports
pitches company announced that it has signed a letter of intent to
enter into a joint venture with Masland Contract, a division of The
Dixie Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: DXYN), a US floor coverings company. The
intent is to build a comprehensive floor covering offering for the
Hospitality market in the United States and international
distribution.
Having signed the letter of intent, the parties anticipate working
quickly to develop a mutually acceptable Joint Venture structure
designed to accomplish their goals. Using nearly 250 years of
combined manufacturing excellence, both companies will be able to
provide more value in the marketplace with complementary product
lines to supply a complete offering to any brand-conscious
Hospitality environment.
In addition, the two companies announced that they will enter into
a sales and distribution agreement permitting Masland Contract, a
division of The Dixie Group, to be the exclusive distributor of
some of Desso's high performance carpet tile products. This will
allow Desso to gain wider distribution for its Cradle to Cradle
product offering through Masland Contract, which offers highly
designed products for the commercial carpet market and that has an
extensive sales network in the US and Canada.
A recognised leader in colour and design from the start, Masland
Contract has become a preferred supplier for the architectural and
design communities. It offers high style broadloom, modular and
area rug products for corporate, hospitality, retail, education,
government, and various other segments.
Today, The Dixie Group is one of the fastest growing companies in
the US carpet market. Similarly, Desso has continued to perform
well based on its commitment to customer service, design,
functionality and Cradle to Cradle. Desso's European market share
in commercial carpets -its largest business division and where it
applied Cradle to Cradle principles first - has grown strongly
between 2007 and 20131).
“Our success in the European market is driven by our focus on health and wellbeing given content by our innovation strategy based on creativity, functionality and Cradle to Cradle. This led to successful products like the AirMaster and SoundMaster carpets and our Cradle to Cradle carpets including the Silver certified EcoBase backing. We expect these kinds of products to perform just as well in the North American market.”
Alexander Collot d’Escury, CEO Desso
The Dixie Group, founded in 1920 is today one of the market leaders supplying the US market with high-end floor coverings. It reported annual revenue of $266 million for the FY2012 and has a 35% market share in the high-end segment of the broadloom carpet market in the US.
"Desso and Masland Contract share the same values of producing environmentally responsible flooring products that stand out in their design and functionality. We look forward to these exciting new opportunities."
Daniel K. Frierson, Dixie Group CEO
"We are delighted with the new partnership between Desso and the Dixie Group. We share the same commitment to delivering stunningly designed, innovative products that provide added value for our customers. Our shared values around innovation, design and green principles will enable Desso to meet its goal of expansion into the US market and support our mutual growth in this high potential market."
Alexander Collot d’Escury, CEO Desso
Desso's corporate vision is based on its goal to 'make the floor
work for our health and wellbeing' driven by its three pillared
innovation programme: Creativity, Functionality and Cradle to
Cradle. Since 2008 Desso has been dedicated to developing a far
reaching business sustainability approach based on Cradle to Cradle
principles, which encourage the development of products made from
healthy materials, leading to safer and more effective recycling
later. This approach underpins Desso's commitment to the circular
economy, in which goods are recycled in a healthy way again and
again.
Combined with functionality and creativity, this enables Desso to
produce market-beating products that help to improve health and
wellbeing indoors. These include the DESSO AirMaster carpet which
is specially designed to capture potentially harmful fine dust in
its fibres; it has been proven to be eight times more effective
than hard floors at retaining the fine dust and four times more
effective than regular carpets2).
1) Based on external sources and internal
management estimates.
2) Based on tests performed by GUI, with DESSO
AirMaster® versus standard PVC hardfloor and versus
standard structured loop pile carpet.
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