Home ›› 14 Aug 2022 ›› Front
Five years into the closure, C&A Textiles has started trial production before commercial production begins at the end of this month.
The listed textile maker, which was shut down in 2017 due to loan defaults by its former owners, has been made operative after Alif Group recently acquired the company.
“Commercial production will start at the end of this month,” said Alif Group Managing Director Md Azimul Islam after the inauguration of the trial production at the company’s manufacturing unit in Chattogram on Saturday.
“Initially, we planned to invest Tk 50 crore. Now, it seems that more money will be needed. We are trying to start production in full swing as soon as possible,” he said.
In October 2021, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) allowed Alif Group to acquire C&A Textiles tagging some conditions.
After getting the approval, Alif Group started preparations to bring C&A Textiles back into production. Now, the trial production of the company has started after installing some new machines and refurbishing the old ones.
C&A Textiles made the stock market debut in 2015 and raised Tk 45 crore through an initial public offering (IPO).
But three years after the listing, the company stopped operation as its former owners were the loan defaulters.
However, on May 1, 2017, the company said it stopped the production, saying it needed to renovate the factory as per the demands of the Accord and Alliance, the organization of ready-made clothing buyers based in the United States and Europe.
As the company did not resume production since then, BSEC Chairman Rubaiyat-ul Islam last year took an initiative to revive the company.
Speaking at the event of trial production, the BSEC chairman said, “If a company suddenly shuts down with a Tk 200 crore bank loan, it poses a threat to the banks, as well as the common investors, besides 2,000-3,000 people becoming unemployed. Now, Alif Group has taken responsibility to run the factory. Hopefully, it will create new employment opportunities and the factory will be revived with renewed enthusiasm.”
In reply to a query over what steps have been taken against the former owners of the company who misappropriated a huge amount of money from the banks and investors, he said, “Earlier there was no investigation department in the BSEC. We have established an investigation department. A criminal case has already been filed in this regard.”
C&A Textiles was established in 2001
