FieldTurf Tarkett Moves Corporate Headquarters to U.S.

Montreal-based FieldTurf Tarkett, the world's largest provider of synthetic playing fields, is moving its corporate headquarters to the U.S.

Marketing director Darren Gill confirmed yesterday that the company's international headquarters will be relocated to Peachtree, Ga.

Peachtree is about a two-hour drive from the firm's plant in Dalton, where 219 million square feet of artificial turf are produced a year.

"The top executive team, including CEO Joe Fields, will be there," he said.

Gill added that he will remain in the Montreal office, along with a staff of about 75 that will handle accounting, marketing, sales and logistics.

The Peachtree headquarters will be FieldTurf's third major office.

There has been one in Paris since Tarkett SA, the European flooring giant owned by the Deconinck family of France, bought a 50-percent stake in FieldTurf in 2004.

In 2006, U.S. buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts purchased half of Tarkett.

Shortly after FieldTurf co-founder and chief executive John Gilman died suddenly of a heart attack in July 2007, KKR replaced him with Fields.

On Sept. 2, three local senior-level executives, who had been with the company for several years, were fired and replaced by people chosen by Fields.

FieldTurf, which was started in 1988, successfully battled better known Astro Turf for the lucrative worldwide fake grass market.

FieldTurf Tarkett has more than 2,700 installations in almost 50 countries.

In addition to its world-renowned FieldTurf and Prestige brands of artificial turf, it provides a wide range of sports flooring products that includes synthetic and hardwood basketball, volleyball and gymnasium flooring, squash and racquetball courts, floor protection and covering systems as well as weight-room flooring.

Also in the range of FieldTurf Tarkett products are indoor and outdoor running tracks, playground surfacing, commercial and residential landscaping, and a complete range of tennis and golf surfaces.

Although a private company, its estimated 2008 sales will reach $400 million, up about 30 percent from last year.