Turners cautiously upbeat about Feltex's prospects

After looking over Feltex's finances, the Auckland brothers seeking to keep the carpet-maker listed remain cautiously positive.

Graeme and Craig Turner - part of the family behind the Sleepyhead bedding group - have been in Melbourne and Queensland looking at the books and visiting operations since getting approval from Feltex last Tuesday.

They said early indications backed their view that Feltex was a good company.

"It is early stages," Craig Turner said.

"There's a lot of work going on in Melbourne right now ... we've got questions, we've got a team going away to look at answers to those questions but, by all means, it's positive."

However, due diligence would have to be completed before deciding on a recapitalisation offer.

The Turners are hoping to have completed this as close to August 21 as possible.

"We don't want to give people false hope but we want them all to know that we're out there working hard at it, we're serious about it ... and we're really giving it our best to meet that deadline," Turner said.

The brothers were staking money and the reputation of Sleepyhead on the deal and wanted to be certain they could turn Feltex around.

This week, the focus is moving to Feltex in New Zealand, including site tours around the country.

Australian carpet company Godfrey Hirst has already made an alternative proposal to pay $141.8 million for Feltex, subject to working capital movements.

The Godfrey Hirst deal would return up to 12c a share to Feltex shareholders and see the company delisted.