Dunlopillo firm enters administration

LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The British maker of Dunlopillo latex foam pillows went into administration on Tuesday, a statement from the administrators said.

Directors of unlisted Yorkshire-based Dunlop Latex Foam Ltd, which also makes Dunlopillo-branded latex sheeting, blocks and mattresses for the worldwide bedding market, appointed administrators KPMG after failing to overcome financial problems, KPMG said in the statement.

KPMG is assessing the prospects of trading the business in the short term, while seeking to sell it as a going concern, the statement said.

A KPMG spokeswoman said no-one had been made redundant, though she was unable to say whether jobs were safe. She was also unable to comment on who might buy the company, which employs 155 people.

Dunlop Latex Foam's existing shareholders acquired it in 2007 and a new management team was put in place, the statement said.

The spokeswoman said the company had private equity investment backing, but she did not have details of the identity of any investors.

The administrators said the group, based in Pannal near Harrogate, had been unable to tackle its pension deficit in the face of significant cost rises and the economic slowdown.

Joint Administrator Howard Smith said in the statement that Dunlopillo was "one of the few truly worldwide and immediately recognisable brands in the sector".

"We are continuing to trade the company while discussions take place with both external investors and trade buyers in an attempt to secure a going-concern sale," he said.

The company, which traded as Dunlopillo International in most parts of the world, sells its products through regional distributors in more than 70 countries including Australia, China, Europe, South Africa, South America and the United States.

It made an operating profit of about 400,000 pounds in the first seven months of 2008, compared with an operating loss of 100,000 pounds the year before, the statement said. Turnover in the year to December 2007 was 16.8 million pounds, the spokeswoman said. (Reporting by Philip Waller, editing by Will Waterman)