USA: VF Corporation To Buy Cone Mills HQ Complex

VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) and Cone Mills Corporation (NYSE: COE) announced today that VF will acquire the Cone corporate office complex located at North Pointe Corporate Center in Greensboro. Situated on 15.6 acres, the complex contains 181,000 square feet of office space.Cone Mills will remain in the complex, leasing its current space, until the end of 2001. Most of the VF Corporate and VF Services offices will relocate to the complex in mid-2002. The move will consolidate approximately 650 VF associates into a single Greensboro location. VF Jeanswear, Playwear and Knitwear as well as the VF Data Center will remain at their current locations."VF has been searching for permanent office space in Greensboro for some time. I am excited about the prospect of bringing together so many VF associates who are now in a variety of different locations," said Mackey McDonald, VF's chairman and CEO. "VF's selection of our new headquarters solidifies our commitment to the Greensboro community."The complex's sale will affect around 250 Cone associates. Cone Mills is currently reviewing site alternatives for a new headquarters, preferably in north Greensboro."This sale will allow us to further strengthen our financial position by reducing capital committed to non-manufacturing space. We are very pleased to be partnering with VF in making this a positive development for both companies," said Cone's CEO John L Bakane. Founded in 1891, Cone Mills Corporation, headquartered in Greensboro, NC, is the world's largest producer of denim fabrics, a supplier of khakis and twills, and the largest commission printer of home furnishings fabrics in North America. Cone's manufacturing facilities are located in North Carolina and South Carolina, with a joint venture denim plant in Coahuila, Mexico. The company has also announced a new value-added denim manufacturing facility to be built in Altamira, Mexico.