Malden Mills Industries, Inc. announced that the Company has successfully emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The reorganized company is emerging from bankruptcy intact with 1,200 employees based in Lawrence, MA, Methuen MA and Hudson, NH. Various secured and unsecured creditors have received a majority of the reorganized company’s stock and a seven member Board of Directors with six new directors has been appointed.

Acting COO and CFO David Orlofsky, from Kroll Zolfo Cooper, stated, “Malden Mills is emerging from Chapter 11 a transformed company. Two years ago Malden Mills’ sales were declining and profits were shrinking. Today I am pleased to say that the Company has successfully turned the corner. Sales are growing and the Company has diversified the Polartec® business into new markets. Additionally, the Company has reduced its debt load from more than $170 million prior to Chapter 11 to less than $80 million. This puts Malden Mills in a much more financially secure position and will support the continued growth of the Company.”

Orlofsky continued, “The successful restructuring could not have happened without the hard work of the Company’s employees during the Chapter 11 process and we are grateful for their unwavering efforts. Malden also received significant support from its senior lenders, its customers and its vendors. We look forward to continuing to work with all parties to successfully grow the business. The new Board of Directors, along with the rest of the employees, are looking forward to helping build a prosperous future for the Company.”

The Company is in the final stages of selecting a permanent CEO and hopes to have this process completed before the end of the calendar year. In the interim, Mr. Orlofsky will continue to manage the day-to-day operations. He will report to the executive committee of the Board of Directors, comprised of 3 members of the new Board.

The Company filed Chapter 11 on November 29th, 2001. The filing was necessitated by many factors including the cost of servicing bank debt and competition from low cost Asian suppliers. Malden Mills is best known as the innovator, manufacturer and marketer of Polartec® brand technical fabrics. During 2003, Malden Mills and Polartec® products have continued to receive strong support from customers and consumers around the world. Significant financial and operational improvements have resulted from the restructuring of the business including more efficient manufacturing, new product innovation, strengthening of the Polartec® brand and diversification into the military, hunting, and fitness lines.

The new Board of Directors will be comprised of:

  • Kevin Collins. Mr. Collins has provided consulting and advisory services to companies, which have undergone or are undergoing financial restructurings. He has over 23 years of experience in corporate finance and investment banking. Mr. Collins is currently Vice Chairman for London Fog and he also sits on the Board of The Penn Traffic Company. Mr. Collins is a chartered Financial Analyst and holds B.S. and MBA degrees from the University of Minnesota.
  • Deborah G. Ellinger. Former Executive Vice President of CVS/Pharmacy, Senior Vice President of Staples Inc., Partner at The Boston Consulting Group, and Vice President of Mellon Financial Corporation. Ms. Ellinger has expertise in strategy, operations, and finance and currently works with private equity firms to help improve the performance of their portfolio companies. Ms. Ellinger is a native of Cambridge, England and has extensive international experience.
  • Aaron Feuerstein. Chairman of the Board and President, (a non-executive role), Malden Mills Industries, Inc. Mr. Feuerstein represents the third generation of the founding family of the Company. His accomplishments include leading Malden Mills into the performance textile market, creation of the Polartec® brand and spurring the Company towards continuous innovation. He has been recognized around the world for his high standards of corporate responsibility exemplified by his decision to rebuild the company the day after the devastating December 11, 1995 fire – and paying his employees during the process.
  • Alan M. Jacobs, President, AMJ Advisors LLC. Mr. Jacobs is a senior financial executive with over thirty years experience in business turnaround and insolvency, corporate restructuring and reorganization, corporate finance and dispute resolution. Mr. Jacobs was a founding member and senior partner of the Ernst & Young LLP restructuring and reorganization practice, which Mr. Jacobs left in 1999 to form AMJ Advisors LLC. Mr. Jacobs works with a variety of clients in a broad range of industries, including textile and apparel, asset based lending, distribution, financial services, manufacturing, real estate and retail. Mr. Jacobs has served as a director and chairman of the audit committee of Singer, Inc., as director of Criimi Mae Inc. and as co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of West Coast Entertainment. Mr. Jacobs is currently providing financial advisory services in numerous matters, including serving as president, plan administrator and litigation trust trustee of T&W Financial Services, Chapter 7 trustee of Edison Brothers, Chapter 11 trustee of Island Mortgage Network and AppOnLine.com Inc., Chapter 11 trustee of Sharp International Corp and financial advisor to Tort Claimants of Dow Corning.
  • Richard K. M. McCaffery. Richard McCaffery is president of McCaffery & Company, International Management Consultants, based in San Francisco with a wholly owned Canadian Subsidiary (Ltd.) in Toronto, Ontario. McCaffery & Company specializes in growth generation for clients in the branded consumer product segment, with extensive experience in apparel, textiles, and retailing. Their services include strategic planning, business development, product development, market research, advertising, and graphic design. Prior to forming McCaffery & Company, Mr. McCaffery was Executive Vice President of Marketing for DFS Group, Ltd., the world’s largest duty free retailer. Richard has a wealth of marketing experience including providing consulting and advisory services to companies such as Avon Products, Chesebrough-Ponds, Crystal Brands, and Fieldcrest Cannon among others. Currently Richard heads the sales and marketing function for London Fog.
  • William E. Redmond, Jr. Mr. Redmond was CEO of Garden Way Incorporated from December 1996 to February 2003 where he engineered a dramatic turnaround of the company. While at Garden Way, Mr. Redmond was responsible for a $53 million EBITDA improvement via strategic alliances and multi-million dollar licensing agreements, product development and other operational improvements. Mr. Redmond currently serves on the Board of World Kitchen Inc., a leader in houseware manufacturing and marketing, Arch Wireless, a leader in the one and two-way paging industry; and Gentek, a diversified manufacturing and technology company.
  • Gregory L. Segall, Chairman and Managing Director of Chrysalis Management Group, LLC. Mr. Segall has significant experience in corporate restructuring both as a Board member and in senior management for substantial businesses (from $10 million to over $1 billion in assets or revenues) in diverse industries including: general and specialty retailing; real estate; health care; franchising; technology; and banking/finance. He is also Special Advisor and Strategic Partner with Lubert Adler Real Estate Funds, a private investment firm with $2.4 billion of equity capital under management and a member of the Independence Capital partners family of private equity investment funds.