Brooks Stevens and Ingenium Product Development to Merge


October 1, 2007

New Brooks Stevens will be among largest, most comprehensive product development firms in the United States

Allenton, Wis. -- Brooks Stevens and Ingenium Product Development have announced plans to merge, positioning the new company to significantly enhance its range of product development capabilities offered to a world-wide customer base of original equipment manufacturers and other clients.

Under terms of the merger, Ingenium will acquire the assets of Brooks Stevens, and the new company will go forward under the internationally recognized name Brooks Stevens. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The transition of the two Wisconsin-based product development companies into one firm will take place over the next several months and the new firm will use the Ingenium office as its headquarters. Ingenium is located in Allenton, while Brooks Stevens is located nearby in Grafton, Wis. Tim Bartley, currently the head of Ingenium, will be president of the new company, and Kipp Stevens, the second generation of his family to lead the company founded by his father Brooks more than 70 years ago, will remain with the company as chairman of the board. The current Ingenium board of directors will take on the same position for the new Brooks Stevens.

"The coming together of Ingenium and Brooks Stevens combines the complementary strengths of each company," said Bartley. "Brooks Stevens has a well deserved reputation for research and world-class industrial design. That tradition has been the hallmark of Brooks Stevens for seven decades, and combined with the high-end design and engineering track record of Ingenium, we have created a truly innovative company."

Bartley noted that the new Brooks Stevens will offer enhanced capabilities in the areas of design research, industrial design, engineering and prototyping under one highly regarded name.

"When my father, Brooks, started this company in 1934, he charted a path to some of the world's most recognized and successful products," said Kipp Stevens, son of the founder who has worked at the firm for 30 years. "The new company will continue on that path, maintain the high standards of innovation for which Brooks Stevens is known and, most importantly, continue to evolve and grow."

"Merging our two talented staffs and fostering a fresh outlook with a broader range of capabilities will create a new company with renewed vitality and a stronger team to compete at an even higher level," Stevens added.

Bartley noted that the new Brooks Stevens will be better positioned to reach further into the international marketplace and be backed up by what likely is one of the country's largest and most talented teams of industrial designers, engineers and other professionals operating in the field.

The new company will serve a wide range of OEM's with product development initiatives in diverse areas such as medical, power sports, consumer products, construction, and lawn and garden. In addition to its portfolio of some of the world's most recognized designs, Brooks Stevens' clients include GE Healthcare, John Deere and Manitowoc Cranes. Ingenium's client list, built since the company formed in 1997, includes Briggs & Stratton, Harley-Davidson and Mercury Marine.

The newly expanded Brooks Stevens will have nearly 70 employees, and there will be no job reductions with the merger. It will be one of the largest product development firms in the country.

Bartley said the new company will continue to expand its presence in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and will explore opening additional offices in the states and overseas.

For more information, visit www.brooksstevens.com

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