years. Fruit of the Loom's sales revenue rose from approximately US$500 million at the time of NWI's purchase (equivalent to $ billion in ) to roughly US$2.5 billion nearly 15 years later (equivalent to $ billion in ), about a three-fold increase after inflation. Debt financing proved difficult to manage, however, even as dollar sales revenue quintupled. On March 23, 1987, the company sold its subsidiary General Battery to Exide Corporation. In the 1990s, the American textile industry overall experienced widespread downsizing in the wake of North American Free Trade Agreement and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. In 1995, Chairman Farley announced that the company would close six plants in the Southeastern United States, and cut back operations at two others. Operations were moved to cheaper plants abroad. 3,200 workers, or about 12 percent of its American work force, were laid off. Farley also announced that company earnings fell 22 percent, despite a 10 percent increase in sales. In 1999, Fruit of the Loom filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, shortly after posting a net loss of $576.2 million. Its 66 million shares of outstanding common stock dropped in value from about $44 per share in early 1997 to just more than $1 by spring 2000. Reasons for the bankruptcy are varied. A large debt load which was assumed in the 1980s, a common practice at the time, did not help. William F. "Bill" Farley, the company's former chairman, CEO, and COO, was ousted prior to the bankruptcy filing in late 1999, after having piloted the company into massive debt and unproductive business ventures, including structuring the company into an off-shore entity in the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes. 21st century The company was bought from bankruptcy by Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, controlled by investor Warren Buffett, who wanted the valuable brand. He agreed in January 2002 to purchase the company for approximately $835 million in cash. The deal was concluded on April 29, 2002. A condition of the purchase required that former COO and then interim CEO John Holland remain available to be the CEO for the company. The company purchased Russell Brands, LLC, effectively taking the former competitor private, in a deal valued at $598.3 million that was completed August 1, 2006. The company announced the purchase of VF Corporation's intimate apparel company named Vanity Fair Intimates for $350 million in cash on January 23, 2007. This company