BRC Brady Corp

MILWAUKEE, April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC), a world leader in identification solutions and specialty materials, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Daewon Industry Corporation, Seoul, South Korea. Daewon is Korea's leading manufacturer and supplier of pressure sensitive, die-cut adhesive components for the mobile handset and electronics industry. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Founded in 1997, Daewon had fiscal 2005 sales of approximately $40 million (U.S.) and employs 250 people in South Korea and China. Daewon's products include precision-cut adhesives, films and protective tapes for lenses and liquid-crystal displays; EMI shielding; acoustic components including speaker cloths, meshes, adhesives, cushions and gaskets; and printed circuit-board insulators. "In the past five years, Korean mobile handset manufacturers such as Samsung and LG have rapidly increased their combined market share to now equal 25 percent of the world's mobile phone production. Daewon Industries will play an integral role in Brady's overall die-cut business strategy by providing an immediate access point to these strategic customers while also opening up other opportunities in South Korea," said Allan Klotsche, Brady vice president, Asia Pacific. "Having an established management team, production facilities and research and development team in place will allow us to quickly roll out new solutions to the Korean market. We are also looking forward to bringing our portfolio of products and solutions to Daewon's customers and the broader electronics market in Korea." "By joining forces with Brady Corporation, we will be able to continue to provide local design and engineering support in Korea, while taking advantage of Brady's capabilities and footprint in China, which is part of the growth strategy for many of our larger Korean customers," said Jong Man Park, Daewon Industries, president. Brady's Asia Pacific business currently has manufacturing locations in China (Beijing, Wuxi, Shenzhen); Thailand (Ayuthea and Lam Chabang); Penang, Malaysia; Singapore; and Australia (Sydney, Perth). Its products include custom die-cut and precision specialty materials, high-performance labels and bar-code solutions, industrial labeling systems and safety and facility identification. Brady Corporation is an international manufacturer and marketer of complete solutions that identify and protect premises, products and people. Its products include high-performance labels and signs, safety devices, printing systems and software, and precision die-cut materials. Founded in 1914, the company has more than 300,000 customers in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, education, medical and a variety of other industries. Brady is headquartered in Milwaukee and employs about 5,500 people in operations in the United States, Europe, Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Canada. Brady's fiscal 2005 sales were approximately $816 million. More information is available on the Internet at http://www.bradycorp.com/ . This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - that is, statements related to future, not past events. In this context forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain certain words such as "expect, anticipate, intend, plan, believe, seek, will, or may." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from future financial performance of major markets we serve which include, without limitation, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, laboratory, education, governmental, public utility, computer, transportation; future integration of and performance of acquired businesses; fluctuations in currency rates versus the US dollar; technology changes; interruptions to sources of supply; business interruptions due to implementing business systems; and numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive and regulatory nature and those identified in reports we file with the SEC. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: Brady Corporation CONTACT: Barbara Bolens, +1-414-438-6940 -- investors, or Carole Herbstreit, +1-414-438-6882 -- media, both of Brady Corporation Web site: http://www.bradycorp.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/952350.html

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