The world’s biggest independent cotton yarn producer has a simple request for employees of Wellstone Mills in Gaffney.

Idle workers should call the plant immediately for reemployment opportunities, said Dan Nation, division president of the Gastonia-based textile company.

Nation announced Thursday afternoon that Parkdale Mills had entered into a lease/purchase agreement with Wellstone to take over Wellstone’s four plants, including the Wellstone Mills plant on Wilcox Avenue in Gaffney. The other plants are located in Georgia.

Just a few days ago, a purchase of Wellstone appeared cloudy. Anderson Warlick, the chief executive of Parkdale Mills, conceded he didn’t know if the deal was going to go through in light of a legal dispute between Wellstone and an Ohio-based company.

As of Thursday afternoon, however, Nation said Parkdale Mills had every intention of firing up the Gaffney plant today.

“We already called in people,” he said. “We need to get it running.”

The deal likely saves about 450 jobs overall at the four Wellstone Mills plants, including approximately 160 in Gaffney.

A call to Wellstone Mills president Josh Hamilton was not immediately returned Thursday afternoon.

The Gaffney plant makes yarns for the weaving and knitting industries.

Parkdale Mills operates 25 plants in the United States and has business lines in Mexico, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. Acquisition of the Gaffney plant won’t add any new products to Parkdale Mills’ offerings, but Nation said the Wellstone plant acquisition will increase Parkdale Mills’ market share.

Not only is the deal saving jobs, Nation said Parkdale Mills already plans a major investment in the Gaffney plant.

“Our plans are to totally refurbish that plant into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with approximately the same number of jobs as there are today,” he said. “It will probably be in the neighborhood of a $30 million investment.”

Terms of the lease/purchase deal were not discussed. Both companies are privately held.

Wellstone was sued recently in Cherokee County Court of Common Pleas by Bridgeport Properties, a subsidiary of Ohio-based Weston Inc. The Ohio firm claimed Wellstone was reneging on a deal to sell the Gaffney plant as part of a $6.8 million sale/leaseback agreement reached in October 2009.

Under the terms of that deal, Wellstone would sell the Gaffney plant to Bridgeport properties and lease back 200,000 to 220,000 square feet of space in the plant.

Bridgeport Properties was asking the court to hold Wellstone Mills to the terms of the deal and to compensate Bridgeport Properties for any losses incurred as part of the transaction.

“The issue between Wellstone and Weston is pending resolution,” Nation said. “We’re not in the middle of that and we hope it will be resolved soon.”

Parkdale Mills has been in a major growth spurt of late.

Last year it took over the operation of three Hanesbrand plants and in 2008 it acquired the U.S. Cotton company.