Hyderabad-based Filatex Fashions to add 500 machines, to up production of socks to 30 million units

It will add 500 new machines to increase the production capacity to 30 million socks per annum from the current seven million.

Hyderabad: Hyderabad headquartered Filatex Fashions Limited (FFL), one of the largest manufacturers of premium quality socks, is embarking on an expansion to cater to the domestic market. It will add 500 new machines to increase the production capacity to 30 million socks per annum from the current seven million. It will also enhance the shop floor to five lakh sq ft from the current two lakh sqft. The expansion will result in direct employment to 2,000 people, said Prabhat Sethia, its Managing Director.

The company informed the stock exchange that existing land will be enough to accommodate the expansion. It will acquire 100 cut and sew machines for manufacturing of T- Shirts and tracksuits. It will also have a yarn dyeing plant and covering machines, it informed.

This outlay for the expansion is about Rs 350 crore. As a part of its expansion plans, it also intends to acquire 51% stake in Sri lanka’s Isabella (P) Limited, for $ 7.55 Million (about Rs 60 crore. The company has initiated a due-diligence process for acquiring/share subscription of Isabella, which has been manufacturing and supplying socks and tights to clients in Germany, France, Canada and Czech Republic. It is the second largest manufacturer of socks and tights in South Asia with an annual capacity of 48 million pairs. Isabella has over 2,000 personnel. It produces a wide variety of business, casual, fashion socks using yarns made from cotton, bamboo, viscose, acrylic and others.

Filatex will achieve synergy through this strategic acquisition of Isabella. It plans to raise its paid-up capital from Rs 48.4 crore to Rs 250 crore by way of preferential allotment of shares, at various price bands, thereby enabling an effective fund raise of about Rs 400 crore.