Smiths welcomes regulatory approval for sale of Polymer Sealing Solutions

The EU and US regulatory authorities have approved the sale of the Smiths Group Polymer Sealing Solutions business to Trelleborg AB of Sweden. The transaction is expected to be completed on 30th September 2003.

ENDS

Polymer Sealing Solutions
Polymer Sealing Solutions employs 6000 people in over 25 countries and is a world leader in polymer technology elastomer, thermoplastic and PTFE for the, industrial and automotive and aerospace markets. Its principal manufacturing sites are in the UK, Malta, Poland, Scandinavia and Italy and the USA. 3300 of its employees are located in Europe with 1400 in the UK, 1000 employees are based in the USA and a further 300 employees are based throughout the rest of the world. Its trading brands include Busak + Shamban, Forsheda, Polypac and Dowty Automotive.

Trelleborg
Trelleborg is a global industrial group. Operations are based on spearhead competence within polymer materials and a high level of industrial know-how, combined with functional solutions and systems designed to meet the needs of its customers. The Trelleborg Group has annual sales of approximately SEK 18 billion, with about 15,000 employees in 40 countries. Trelleborg consists of four business areas: Trelleborg Automotive, Trelleborg Wheel Systems, Trelleborg Engineered Systems and Trelleborg Building Systems. The Trelleborg share has been quoted on the A list of the Stockholm Exchange since 1964.