Wilbur Ross is close to completing his purchase of Cone Mills. He already owns Burlington Industries. Both were good buys, as they were in bankruptcy, and he managed to push their respective pension liabilities into the lap of the US government pension guaranty program, before he bought what was left, with much-reduced debt.
Both companies are large denim fabric producers in the US, and the DR produces more than a million pairs of bluejeans a month for the ever-widening rear-ends of Americans, who can't seem to buy enough bluejeans at Wal-Mart, Target, JC Penneys, The Gap, etc. He is probably here watching out for his investments and making sure that the Dominican companies, like Grupo M, will continue to buy their denim from one of his companies.
He has also been involved in the FTA negotiations, and have no doubts that he will try to include provisions that will benefit his companies, such as some type of continuing preferential treatments for foreign manufacturers using US-produced fabrics, even though the point of the exercise is Free Trade.
He is also forming a new large steel company from the carcasses of broken-down and broke steel companies in the US, at the same time (guess he isn't bored).
He is in the DR right now. (For a photo of him to see if you recognize the man, go to:
www.slate.msn.com/id/2077087/
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Distressed Industries and Wilbur Ross
