Orange, California – November 17, 2006 –West American Rubber Company, LLC (“WARCO”) is pleased to announce that it has completed its acquisition of The Biltrite Corporation’s Sheet Rubber and Rubber Matting Business located in Ripley, Mississippi. The acquisition was made through a newly formed entity, Biltrite Ripley Operations LLC, which will operate as a subsidiary of West American Rubber Company.
WARCO sees this acquisition as an opportunity to accelerate and expand its three core Business Divisions which, in addition to Sheet Rubber Products, include Molded and Extruded Products. With a combined experience of over 195 years in the rubber industry, WARCO and Biltrite together are able to offer enhanced capabilities and state of the art technology to meet a broad range of customer needs.
As part of the acquisition, a WARCO affiliate has acquired Biltrite’s extensive 400,000 square foot manufacturing facility located on more than 50 acres in Ripley, Mississippi. Combined with the WARCO facilities, which total 150,000 square feet on 11 acres, in Orange, California, the two strategically located manufacturing plants will play an important role in facilitating the company’s future growth, which include both facilities.
Stanley J. Bernstein and Stephen A. Fine of Biltrite have joined the WARCO Board of Directors, which includes Steven R. Hemstreet; Chairman of the Board, Kenneth J. Hemstreet, James deLeo, Kelvin D. Baker, Charles J. Vaughn and Robert N. Greer. James deLeo, President of WARCO, will oversee the two operations and Larry Babcock has been named Executive Vice President of Biltrite Ripley Operations LLC.
The headquarters of the merged rubber businesses has been combined at WARCO’s current headquarters in Orange, California.
CONTACT:
Flor Vasquez, (714) 532-3355
fvasquez@warco.com
