Crane Co. (NYSE:CR), a diversified manufacturer of highly engineered
industrial products, said the European Commission issued a press release
earlier today in connection with Crane Co.’s pending acquisition of MEI
Conlux Holdings (“MEI”). The Commission cleared the pending acquisition
of MEI conditioned upon Crane Co.’s entry into agreements satisfactory
to the Commission to implement remedies regarding two product lines –
divestiture of the B2B bill recycler product line and licensing in
Europe for the Currenza C2 coin recycler product line, both
manufactured and sold by Crane Co.’s Payment Solutions business (“CPS”),
within its Merchandising Systems segment. The remedies would not affect
the competing bill and coin recycler product lines of MEI. As previously
announced, these remedies would affect less than 10 percent of the
aggregate sales of the combined businesses. The time required to
implement the required remedies would shift the anticipated closing of
the acquisition into the fourth quarter of 2013.
Crane Co. also stated that the staff of the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission has recommended clearance of the MEI acquisition, without
conditions, and the FTC is expected to vote on that recommendation on
Monday, July 22.
Crane Co. is currently in negotiations with Bain Capital and Advantage
Partners, the representatives of the owners of MEI, concerning the
economic effects of the remedies involving the two CPS product lines. As
the aggregate sales of the two product lines exceed the $15 million
threshold set forth in the Stock Purchase Agreement providing for the
MEI acquisition, Crane Co. is entitled not to close absent reaching a
mutually satisfactory agreement with the sellers. Crane Co. expects the
ongoing negotiations to continue, but no assurance can be given that a
mutually satisfactory adjustment to the transaction terms will be
achieved.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements as defined
by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements present management’s expectations, beliefs, plans and
objectives regarding future financial performance, and assumptions or
judgments concerning such performance. Any discussions contained
in this press release, except to the extent that they contain historical
facts, are forward-looking and accordingly involve estimates,
assumptions, judgments and uncertainties. There are a number of
factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially
from those addressed in the forward-looking statements. Such
factors are detailed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 and subsequent reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Crane Co.
Richard E. Koch, 203-363-7352
Director, Investor Relations
and Corporate Communications
www.craneco.com