US retailer Brooks Brothers has acquired a 25% shareholding in Ballantyne’s knitwear factory near Peebles, one of Scotland’s top quality cashmere knitwear manufacturers.

Ballantyne’s Italian owners have also sold a 55% stake in the Borders mill to Massimiliano Zegna Baruffa, textiles entrepreneur and former owner of the famous Italian worsted yarn spinner Zegna Baruffa. Ballantyne is to retain a 20% shareholding in the mill.

The Innerleithen factory which has an outstanding reputation for top quality knitwear, especially hand intarsia knitwear, has been in Italian ownership for a number of years and its future has recently been under threat.  In the new deal, the owners plan to expand the factory's production capability whilst Brooks Brothers, one of the oldest retailers in the US, will use the factory as its cashmere knitwear supplier.

The company will operate under the name of JJ & HB 1788 Cashmere Mills, named after its original founding Ballantyne brothers and the year of establishment of the factory. Ballantyne Cashmere was established in 1921.

The three partners will cooperate with each one pursuing precise objectives. Massimiliano Zegna Baruffa, who has been appointed by the partners as Chairman and CEO, will manage the operations in order to guarantee the un-matched quality of the production and expand factory production capability and customer base. Ballantyne will continue contributing its unique Scottish heritage and its know-how and innovation in cashmere knitwear; Brooks Brothers, America’s oldest retailer, will complete the balance of the partnership with its 190-year tradition of fine quality, innovation and style.

 “I am convinced that this partnership represents a great opportunity” commented Massimiliano Zegna Baruffa “I strongly believe in the long term value of traditional Scottish knitwear and I am honoured to be partner with two strong international brands such as Ballantyne and Brooks Brothers”.

 “Brooks Brothers is an American icon,” added Claudio Del Vecchio, Chairman and CEO of Brooks Brothers. “Our principle is to deal only in merchandise of the finest quality and for our cashmere knitwear, which is an ever more fundamental item for our customers, we found in the partnership with Ballantyne and Massimiliano Zegna Baruffa the ideal long term relationship.”

 “The partnership with Massimiliano Zegna Baruffa and Brooks Brothers represents an important step for our company” concluded Alfredo Canessa, Chairman of Ballantyne. “We share with Mr. Zegna and Brooks Brothers the same values of top quality and in-depth product research  and I am convinced that the balance of competencies contributed by the three partners will add further value to Ballantyne knitwear collections, preserving our unique Scottish heritage”.