Warnaco to Sell Lejaby(R) Business
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The Warnaco Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WRNC) today announced that it has
entered into an agreement to sell its Lejaby business to Palmers
Textil AG for approximately €32.5
million (approximately $47 million) in cash and €12.5
million (approximately $18 million) in an interest free note due
December 31, 2013. Terms of the transaction include a customary working
capital adjustment and the provision of temporary transition services to
Palmers Textil AG. The Company notes that the sale of Lejaby is subject
to customary closing conditions and expects the sale to be concluded
during the first quarter of fiscal 2008.
Commenting on the transaction, Helen McCluskey, Warnaco’s
Group President of Intimate Apparel and Swimwear stated, "We
would like to thank the Lejaby team for its contributions over the
years. Under Palmer's ownership, Lejaby will continue to be operated
from Lyon, providing continuity to its core employees. In the future, we
believe that, under Palmer’s ownership, Lejaby
will benefit from new opportunities. Today’s
announcement completes the strategic realignment we announced in
November, including the Company’s exit from
all owned manufacturing. We believe Warnaco is now well positioned to
focus our efforts on our brands and businesses with the greatest
long-term potential for Warnaco and its stakeholders.” "We are thrilled by the acquisition of the
Lejaby business. We believe adding Lejaby, an iconic and well
established brand, to our portfolio will surely enhance our future
growth opportunities,” commented Thomas Weber,
CEO of Palmers Textil AG.
ABOUT WARNACO
The Warnaco Group, Inc., headquartered in New York, is a leading apparel
company engaged in the business of designing, sourcing, marketing and
selling intimate apparel, menswear, jeanswear, swimwear, men's and
women's sportswear and accessories under such owned and licensed brands
as Warner's®, Olga®,
Body Nancy Ganz®, and Speedo®,
as well as Chaps® sportswear and denim, and
Calvin Klein® men's and women's underwear, men’s
and women’s bridge apparel and accessories,
men's and women's jeans and jeans accessories, junior women's and
children's jeans and men’s and women's
swimwear.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The Warnaco Group, Inc. notes that this press release and certain other
written, electronic and oral disclosure made by the Company from time to
time, may contain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to
the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties and reflect, when made, the Company's estimates,
objectives, projections, forecasts, plans, strategies, beliefs,
intentions, opportunities and expectations. Actual results may differ
materially from anticipated results or expectations and investors are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.
Statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements may be identified by, among
other things, the use of forward-looking language, such as the words
"believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may,"
"project," "scheduled to," "seek," "should," "will be," "will continue,"
"will likely result," or the negative of those terms, or other similar
words and phrases or by discussions of intentions or strategies.
The following factors, among others and in addition to those described
in the Company's reports filed with the SEC (including, without
limitation, those described under the headings "Risk Factors" and
"Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Disclosure," as such disclosure may
be modified or supplemented from time to time), could cause the
Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in
any forward-looking statements made by it: the Company's ability to
execute its repositioning and sale initiatives (including achieving
enhanced productivity and profitability) announced on September 18,
2007; economic conditions that affect the apparel industry; the
Company's failure to anticipate, identify or promptly react to changing
trends, styles, or brand preferences; further declines in prices in the
apparel industry; declining sales resulting from increased competition
in the Company’s markets; increases in the
prices of raw materials; events which result in difficulty in procuring
or producing the Company's products on a cost-effective basis; the
effect of laws and regulations, including those relating to labor,
workplace and the environment; changing international trade regulation,
including as it relates to the imposition or elimination of quotas on
imports of textiles and apparel; the Company’s
ability to protect its intellectual property or the costs incurred by
the Company related thereto; the Company’s
dependence on a limited number of customers; the effects of
consolidation in the retail sector; the Company’s
dependence on license agreements with third parties; the Company’s
dependence on the reputation of its brand names, including, in
particular, Calvin Klein; the Company’s
exposure to conditions in overseas markets in connection with the Company’s
foreign operations and the sourcing of products from foreign third-party
vendors; the Company's foreign currency exposure; the Company’s
history of insufficient disclosure controls and procedures and internal
controls and restated financial statements; unanticipated future
internal control deficiencies or weaknesses or ineffective disclosure
controls and procedures; the effects of fluctuations in the value of
investments of the Company’s pension plan;
the sufficiency of cash to fund operations, including capital
expenditures; the Company's ability to service its indebtedness, the
effect of changes in interest rates on the Company's indebtedness that
is subject to floating interest rates and the limitations imposed on the
Company's operating and financial flexibility by the agreements
governing the Company's indebtedness; the Company’s
dependence on its senior management team and other key personnel;
disruptions in the Company's operations caused by difficulties with the
new systems infrastructure; the limitations on purchases under the
Company's share repurchase program contained in the Company's debt
instruments, the number of shares that the Company purchases under such
program and the prices paid for such shares; the Company’s
inability to achieve its strategic objectives, including gross margin,
SG&A and operating profit goals, as a result of one or more of the
factors described above or otherwise; the failure of acquired businesses
to generate expected levels of revenues; the failure of the Company to
successfully integrate such businesses with its existing businesses (and
as a result, not achieving all or a substantial portion of the
anticipated benefits of such acquisitions); and such acquired businesses
being adversely affected, including by one or more of the factors
described above and thereby failing to achieve anticipated revenues and
earnings growth.
The Company encourages investors to read the section entitled "Risk
Factors" and the discussion of the Company's critical accounting
policies under "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations -- Discussion of Critical Accounting
Policies" included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, as such
discussions may be modified or supplemented by subsequent reports that
the Company files with the SEC. The discussion in this press release is
not exhaustive but is designed to highlight important factors that may
affect actual results. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the
date on which they are made, and, except for the Company's ongoing
obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, the Company disclaims
any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.