S.C. FIRM BUYS NAUTILUS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 22, 1993                   TAG: 9301220229
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GREENVILLE, S.C.                                LENGTH: Medium
S.C. FIRM BUYS NAUTILUS
Delta Woodside Industries Inc., a textile and apparel company best known for its Duck Head clothing, said Thursday it has bought fitness machine maker Nautilus International Inc.
The purchase price was not disclosed. Nautilus is headquartered in Independence, Va.
Nautilus, a company with a colorful history stemming from major investors in Florida and Texas, was forced into bankruptcy reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Roanoke in 1990. At that time, its debt was reported at $38.6 million and its assets at $27.3 million.
Continuing an up-and-down sales pattern with its internationally known exercise equipment, the company later was acquired by other investors based in Louisville, Ky. Sales increased and later declined, causing layoffs. In a diversification move last year, the company sold Dr Pepper a license for a low-calorie Nautilus soft drink.
Delta Woodside said it also has bought 70 percent of Apparel Marketing Corp., which holds the license to use the Nautilus name on clothing. It does business as Nautilus Wear International.
For now, both companies will operate as divisions of Delta Woodside and no personnel changes are expected, said Douglas J. Stevens, Delta Woodside's controller. Dan D. Baldwin will remain chairman of Nautilus International, he said.
Delta Woodside wants to duplicate with Nautilus clothing the success it has had with the Duck Head brand, which it bought in February 1989. Duck Head sales quadrupled to $130 million last year. Delta Woodside's total sales were $705 million.
The company originally was interested in Apparel Marketing, but then Nautilus International shareholders offered to sell the fitness machine business as well, said Bettis Rainsford, Delta Woodside's executive vice president.
Delta Woodside employs about 8,300 people at plants in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Costa Rica.
Staff writer George Kegley contributed to this story.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB