Rite Industries, Inc.

Rite Industries, Inc. (Rite) was founded by the Parham family in 1962 in High Point, North Carolina. The company's original focus was on the supply of dyestuffs to the local hosiery mills. Since that time, a combination of excellent customer service, strong marketing, and aggressive, worldwide purchasing capabilities have enabled Rite to become the nation's largest independent supplier of dyestuffs, and the fifth largest dyestuff supplier in the U.S.

Rite's historic strategy was to avoid ownership of dye manufacturing facilities and the overhead burden and liabilities associated with them. Rite has sought out high quality suppliers of its raw dyestuffs from around the world – principally the Far East and India – and converted the product to standard formulae for distribution. This method of operation enables Rite to be flexible and react more readily to changes in the economy, changes in pricing, changes in fashion and changes in competitive pressures.

From 1962 until its acquisition by investors in January 1995, Rite was a closely held family business. The company grew steadily due to its low-cost sourcing capabilities. During the early 1990's, Rite's growth pattern peaked as its traditional markets in North and South Carolina were fully penetrated. In an effort to foster continued growth, Rite expanded its marketing efforts into Georgia, California, and the Northeast and began to explore acquisition opportunities outside the textile apparel market segment.

Rite identified International Dyestuffs Corporation (IDC) as such an opportunity and acquired the company in January 1994. IDC, headquartered in Clifton, New Jersey, was operating principally in the paper industry and in the Northeast commission dyeing markets. This acquisition gave Rite a solid base in the paper industry as well as a significant presence in the Northeast, and nearly doubled the company's sales volume.

In October of 1997, Rite acquired the business and certain assets of Amber Industries, Inc. Amber was a diversified distributor of dyes to the specialty, textile and paper industries. The consolidation of Amber's volume into Rite's existing facilities as well as added marketing strength for international and specialty sales made this acquisition especially attractive.