TMCnet News
Watts Water Technologies Acquires FEBCO, Mueller Steam Specialty and POLYJET Product LinesNORTH ANDOVER, Mass. --(Business Wire)-- Dec. 2, 2005 -- Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) announced today that it has acquired the FEBCO, Mueller Steam Specialty and POLYJET product lines from SPX Corporation (NYSE:SPW) in a stock purchase transaction. Watts Water Technologies' Chief Executive Officer, Patrick S. O'Keefe, commented, "FEBCO is a manufacturer of backflow prevention valves. FEBCO has a strong presence in both residential and commercial landscape irrigation, where we currently have a minor presence. Mueller Steam Specialty is a leading full line supplier of pipeline strainers and check valves. Watts' current product offering of strainers focuses on small diameter strainers for plumbing applications. The inclusion of Mueller Steam Specialties in our product offering allows us to expand into large diameter commercial products. POLYJET offers a customized sleeve valve, which is used in severe service applications to provide precise flow and pressure control. This represents our entry into sleeve valve products. We believe that this transaction will enable Watts to offer a broader product line, improve operating efficiencies and provide better customer service. These three businesses have combined annual revenues of approximately $57 million." Watts Water Technologies will hold a live web cast of its conference call to discuss the acquisition of the FEBCO, Mueller Steam Specialty and POLYJET product lines on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. The press release and the live web cast can be accessed by visiting the Investors section of the Company's website at www.wattswater.com. Following the web cast, an archived version of the call will be available at the same address until December 6, 2006. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. is a world leader in the manufacture of innovative products to control the efficiency, safety, and quality of water within residential, commercial, and institutional applications. Its expertise in a wide variety of water technologies enables it to be a comprehensive supplier to the water industry. This Press Release includes statements that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect Watts Water Technologies' current views about future results of operations and other forward-looking information. In some cases you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will" and "would" or similar words. You should not rely on forward-looking statements because Watts' actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of important factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following: shortages in and pricing of raw materials and supplies including recent cost increases by suppliers of raw materials and our ability to pass these costs on to customers, loss of market share through competition, introduction of competing products by other companies, pressure on prices from competitors, suppliers, and/or customers, the identification and disclosure of material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, failure to expand our markets through acquisitions, failure or delay in developing new products, lack of acceptance of new products, failure to manufacture products that meet required performance and safety standards, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, cyclicality of industries, such as plumbing and heating wholesalers and home improvement retailers, in which the Company markets certain of its products, economic factors, such as the levels of housing starts and remodeling, impacting the markets where the Company's products are sold, manufactured, or marketed, environmental compliance costs, product liability risks, the results and timing of the Company's manufacturing restructuring plan, changes in the status of current litigation, including the James Jones case, and other risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "Certain Factors Affecting Future Results" in the Watts Water Technologies, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 filed with the Securities Exchange Commission and other reports Watts files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
