Manwah Holdings, parent company of upholstery and bedding vendor Manwah USA, has purchased Timberland, one of the largest upholstery factories in Vietnam, and has plans to triple capacity at the 1.2 million-plus-square-foot plant.

The move gives Manwah a strong initial Asian footprint outside China, which could be subject to tariffs on furniture exported to the U.S. market.

In June of this year, Manwah holdings has acquired Delancy Mfg., a Chinese manufacturer of OEM Upholstery. Delancey has dealt with major industry brands that are importing motion goods from China. Its OEM factory has more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing space with the opportunity for furniture expansion. The factory today employs more than 800 employees and has the capacity of up to 600 containers per month.

The Timberland factory, Manwah’s first in Southeast Asia, was part of the Green River factory group in Vietnam. Production at the plant started in 2012 with shipping to North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. The factory today has a little more than 1.2 million square feet of production capacity and currently can ship up to 1,000 containers per month.

Manwah Holdings will begin to add new equipment and hire additional staff immediately. ManWah also will begin construction almost immediately on an additional 2 million square feet of production space to be completed by July 2019. This expansion will triple the current capacity to more than 3,000 containers per month in order to meet current demand of U.S. and North American customers.

The Timberland acquisition expands Manwah's capacity to more 18 million square feet of upholstery manufacturing, adding to its position as one of the largest global upholstery manufacturers in the world.

Responsibility for the factory falls to Guy Ray, CEO of Manwah USA.

“This factory with more than 1,000 employees gives us the needed additional capacity for our customers, as well as capacity for our expansion plans in North America," Ray said. "Buying a factory in Vietnam also addresses the ongoing possible tariff issues between China and the United States.”

Ray added that Simon Siow will continue as general manager, and the management team of Timberland will remain in place under the new ownership.

“Simon and the Manwah operations team are working closely together to quickly integrate systems and capabilities to ensure the transition is smooth and as customer friendly as possible,” Ray said.

Wong Man Li, chairman of Manwah Holdings, was a pioneer in building factories in China using the costs advantages to produce quality value-priced products with a value proposition. In the 25 years since, Manwah Holdings has  built to more than $1.2 billion in global sales.

Wong said he has identified Vietnam as a country with tremendous possibilities.

“After visiting the Timberland factory, I realized their commitment to customer service and focus on quality production, which matched the core values of Manwah Holdings, so it made smart sense to buy the factory and bring it into our family,” said Wong.

About Manwah Holdings:

Man Wah Holdings Limited (hereinafter referred to as the “Company” or “Man Wah” and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group" or “We”) was founded in 1992. 

（Source: Furniture Today）