Three years after the death of Chattanooga industrialist Spencer Wright, his heirs sold the family-owned Cobble tufting equipment manufacturer on Tuesday to one of the world’s biggest textile equipment makers.
Michel Van de Wiele NV of Marke, Belgium, bought the assets of the worldwide Cobble organization to unite two of the most historic and famous names in textile manufacturing technology. The sale will change the name, but not the operations or 140-employee staff of Cobble, according to Robert Forrest, director of operations for the 25-employee tufting equipment office and plant in Dalton, Ga.
Cobble, formerly owned by the Singer sewing machine company and once the world’s biggest tufting equipment maker, was bought by Chattanoogan Spencer Wright in 1976. Wright, a former Singer manager, built the textile equipment company with signature brands such as Colortec and acquired the maker of Crabtree weaving machinery before his death in 2010.
But the carpet recession and unfunded pension obligations at the company’s biggest plant in Blackburn, England pushed Cobble into the red. According Jordans Business information, Cobble Blackburn, the company’s biggest operation, lost $327,700 on sales of $20.8 million in 2011, the most recent year for which figures are available.
Nelson Irvine, a director and attorney for Spencer Wright Industries, said Cobble operated plants in Dalton, Ga., the United Kingdom and China.