Mattress producer Spring Air Sommex Corp. has acquired the Canadian assets of Natura World Inc., a Cambridge, Ontario-based bedding manufacturer. Natura World filed for bankruptcy protection in December under the Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. It was placed in receivership on April 18.
The deal, announced April 27, includes all of Natura’s manufacturing operations in Cambridge and the exclusive rights to Natura brands in the North American market. Natura’s facility in Wichita Falls, Texas, was not part of the purchase. Terms of the acquisition were not announced.
Ralph Rossdeutscher, Natura co-founder and former president, will serve as executive vice president of the Natura division of Spring Air Sommex.
“Natura is a fabulous brand. We have a tremendous amount of respect for it and we love the products,” said Valerie Stranix, chief marketing officer for Spring Air Sommex, which is headquartered in Toronto. “Spring Air Sommex is a very strong innerspring manufacturer, so this is a new niche for us. Natura’s high-end brand proposition, with its use of wool and latex, is a really nice fit in that our products won’t compete with each other.”
Spring Air Sommex is the Spring Air International licensee for all of Canada except British Columbia. It also manufactures and distributes Sommex and ObusForme-branded mattresses from three plants in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba.
Sommex expects to make few changes at the Cambridge facility, Stranix said, and will continue to manufacture the entire Natura portfolio of products, including its natural and organic mattresses, NexGel beds and complete line of sleep accessories, toppers, and infant and children’s products.
“We’re a ‘quality house’ and we’re really excited to continue Natura’s tradition of quality, as well as timely and accurate delivery of product,” she said.
