French textile producers Chargeurs want to increase their capital share in their UK competitor Drummond. The Paris-based textile group already has a 25 % stake in Drummond and now intends to take over a 75 % via their British subsidiary Chargeurs UK. To do so, Chargeurs have meanwhile submitted an official purchasing offer. Drummond is specialised in pret-a-porter textiles for men and suffered losses in turnover in the past few months.
The textile manufacturers from Bradford have undergone a restructuring phase since the year 1998 and already closed down some of their divisions. Chargeurs continues their take-over strategies with this move. It was only recently that the French company took over the industry leader in dyeing and finishing Roussel Desrousseaux from Roubaix. The Chargeurs group put down a 12.7 % growth in turnover to EUR 1.19 bn for the 2000 business year