Hathaway sale means firm becomes 2 entities

WATERVILLE – The sale of C.F. Hathaway & Co. to a Connecticut firm was completed Thursday after weeks of tense negotiations.

Windsong Inc. of Westport, Conn., purchased all U.S. assets of the 164-year-old shirt factory and will split the company into two entities: Hathaway Worldwide and The Waterville Shirt Co.

Company officials said Hathaway Worldwide will market Hathaway-branded products, while The Waterville Shirt Co. will market clothing under other brand names. They vowed to boost business and are hopeful the Waterville work force eventually can be increased.

“We believe the Hathaway name has yet to be capitalized on and has enormous potential in both men’s and women’s sportswear,” said Windsong chairman Joseph Sweedler, who ran the Hathaway company in the 1970s.

The sale transfers ownership to Windsong from Hathaway Holdings Corp., an investment group headed by former Maine Gov. John R. McKernan Jr. that saved Hathaway from closing five years ago.