11 December 2017                                

Coats Group plc

Acquisition of Patrick Yarn Mill

Coats Group plc ('Coats' or the 'Company'), the world's leading industrial thread manufacturer, today announces the acquisition of Patrick Yarn Mill.

Patrick Yarn Mill is a manufacturer of high-performance engineered yarns based in North Carolina, US.  It specialises in cut-resistant and flame retardant yarns.  It also produces yarns from recycled fibres marketed under its earthspun® trademarks and with its large solar installation promotes its earth friendly yarns as 'Spun by the Sun'.

Founded in 1963, Patrick Yarn Mill has 150 employees.  In 2016, its annual sales were $36.5m.  Patrick Yarn Mill's unique spinning competencies in engineered performance yarns offer an opportunity to expand Coats' existing Performance Materials portfolio as well as to extend its innovation capability.  Coats will support Patrick Yarn Mill's expansion into high-growth markets by leveraging Coats' unrivalled geographic footprint, breadth of global customer relationships and strong corporate brand.

The initial consideration is US$21 million, with further payments of up to US$4 million over a three year period to 2020, contingent on Patrick Yarn Mill achieving certain performance targets.  The acquisition will be funded from Coats' operating cash flows and existing debt facilities.

Rajiv Sharma, Coats Group Chief Executive, said:

'Patrick Yarn Mill is an exciting acquisition that supports a key aspect of our growth strategy: to identify innovative capabilities that build scale in high technology sectors.  It is a dynamic, customer focused company and its unique spinning systems combined with our existing technology portfolio will provide a strong market offering.  We will look to draw upon our demonstrable track record of successfully integrating bolt-on companies following the acquisitions in 2016 of Gotex and Fast React, both of which are performing well under Coats' ownership.'

Enquiry details

UK media                                  Richard Mountain / Nick Hasell               +44 (0) 20 3727 1374

Investors                                   Rob Mann                                             +44 (0) 20 8210 5175

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation.

About Coats Group plc

Coats is the world's leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market. At home in some 60 countries, Coats employs over 19,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2016 were US$1.5bn. Coats' pioneering history and innovative culture ensure the company continues leading the way around the world, providing complementary and value added products and services to the apparel and footwear industries; applying innovative techniques to develop high technology Performance Material threads and yarns in areas such as automotive composites and fibre optics; and extending the crafts offer into new markets and online. Headquartered in the UK, Coats is a FTSE250 listed company on the London Stock Exchange. To find out more about Coats visit www.coats.com.