K-Tron Completes Acquisition of Chinese Business
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FORMS WHOLLY FOREIGN-OWNED ENTERPRISE IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
PITMAN, N.J., March 27 / -- K-Tron International, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTII) today reported that is has closed its previously announcedagreement to acquire certain assets of Wuxi Chenghao Machinery Co., Ltd. ("Wuxi Chenghao"), a privately-owned company in the People's Republic of China (the "PRC"). The purchased assets were transferred from the seller to a newly-created Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise ("WFOE") established by K-Tron which will conduct business under the name Wuxi K-Tron Colormax Machinery Co.,
Ltd. ("Wuxi K-Tron Colormax"). The total cost of the transaction over a five-
year period, including the purchase price and payments under related employment and other arrangements with Wuxi Chenghao's owner, could be as much
as approximately $3.5 million.
Wuxi K-Tron Colormax will be located in Luoshe Key Open Industrial Park,
Wuxi City, in the Huishan district of Jiangsu province, approximately 60 miles
west of Shanghai. The company will initially employ approximately 65 people
and will design, manufacture, market and service volumetric and gravimetric
single and twin screw feeders and controls, vibratory trays, pelletizers and
pneumatic screen changers for use in plastics compounding and injection
molding processes.
Wuxi K-Tron Colormax will become the newest member of K-Tron's Process
Group, a leading global supplier of feeding and pneumatic conveying equipment
to companies in the process industries. Sales and operations of the WFOE will
be the responsibility of Mr. Wang Hongliang, the seller's owner. Accounting,
financial reporting and tax matters will be handled by Ms. Sun Ping, an
English-speaking degreed accountant with several years of experience working
for a foreign-owned company in the PRC, whom we hired in March 2007. Wuxi
Chenghao's top management and most of its employees have also joined the WFOE.
Kevin Bowen, Senior Vice President of K-Tron responsible for its process
equipment business line, will serve as Chairman of the Board of the WFOE and
have overall responsibility for its business.
Commenting on the acquisition, K-Tron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Edward B. Cloues, II said, "The domestic Chinese feeder market represents a
significant growth area for our Process Group. K-Tron has served the upper-
tier PRC market for many years by selling its feeding equipment primarily to
multinational end users through resellers, such as engineering firms, in
Europe and the United States, through independent sales representatives in the
PRC and by providing support through a Representative Office in Shanghai which
we opened in 1996. Our new WFOE, Wuxi K-Tron Colormax, provides us with the
opportunity to sell Chinese designed and manufactured feeders and related
equipment to Chinese customers in local currency. The establishment of Wuxi
K-Tron Colormax is a major step forward in K-Tron's strategic plan to expand
our global leadership position in feeding and pneumatic conveying equipment
for difficult to handle materials."
Mr. Bowen added, "The acquisition of Wuxi Chenghao and the formation of
the WFOE was a time-consuming and complicated project, but the expected
benefits to the K-Tron Process Group should be substantial. The PRC has
developed into a leading area for base resin manufacturing and plastics
compounding, which are core markets for our feeding and pneumatic conveying
equipment. Wuxi K-Tron Colormax will significantly increase our presence in
the PRC and allow us to take advantage of domestic manufacturing and labor
efficiencies. And with Mr. Wang and the management team from Wuxi Chenghao
having joined us, we will be able to utilize their existing customer
relationships and supply chain processes. We currently have managers from our
U.S. and Swiss Process Group facilities working with Wuxi Chenghao's
management on site to assure a smooth transition, and experienced K-Tron
managers will remain involved with Wuxi K-Tron Colormax for the foreseeable
future."
K-Tron International, Inc. and its subsidiaries design, produce, market
and service material handling equipment and systems for a wide variety of
industrial markets. The Company has manufacturing facilities in the United
States, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China,
and its equipment is sold throughout the world.
SOURCE K-Tron International, Inc.
CONTACT:Ronald Remick, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer,
K-Tron International, +1-856-256-3311, rremick@ktron.com
CO: K-Tron International, Inc.; Wuxi Chenghao Machinery Co.
ST: New Jersey
IN: MAC
SU: TNM
