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Investor Relations
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K-Tron Investor Relations
Company Overview K-Tron is a recognized leader in the design, production, marketing and servicing of material handling equipment and systems. We serve many different industrial markets through two separate business lines, one of which (our Process Group) focuses primarily on feeding and pneumatic conveying equipment while the other (our Size Reduction Group) concentrates on crushing and other size reduction equipment. Our strategy is simple: to provide our customers with the equipment, engineered solutions and services they need to be successful in their businesses. For many years, K-Tron has been the global leader in high-quality feeders for the handling of bulk solids in a wide variety of manufacturing processes. Our feeders control the flow of materials into those processes which then transform the materials into various end products. We have also produced and sold high-performance pneumatic conveying components and systems. In October 2006, we significantly expanded the scope of our pneumatic conveying business by acquiring Premier Pneumatics, Inc. Premier, which is a leader in the United States market, designs, manufactures and markets a complete line of pneumatic conveying components, and it also is well known for its engineered systems for rail car and truck unloading and for its storage-to-production-line transfer systems. Following the Premier acquisition, our two existing pneumatic conveying brands (K-Tron PCS and K-Tron Colormax) became product lines within the Premier Pneumatics brand. The combination of our K-Tron Feeders brand and our Premier Pneumatics brand within our Process Group enables both businesses to offer their customers integrated pneumatic conveying and feeding systems with engineering, manufacturing, commissioning and after-sale services from a single source, something that is not widely available today. Each brand may be sold separately or in combination with the other brand to meet a customer’s requirements. The plastics, food, chemical, detergent and pharmaceutical industries are the major markets served by our Process Group. In addition to our acquisition of Premier, on March 27, 2007, we completed the purchase of certain assets of Wuxi Chenghao Machinery Co., Ltd., a leading feeder and ancillary equipment manufacturer for the plastics compounding and injection molding industries in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The acquisition of Wuxi Chenghao’s assets and business was a major step forward in our Process Group’s plan to expand its global leadership position in feeding equipment for difficult-to-handle materials. K-Tron has served the upper-tier PRC market for many years, selling primarily to multinational end users. The domestic PRC market for plastics processing equipment, while still small, is growing at double-digit rates, and this purchase will enable us to address the domestic customer base with products designed and manufactured in the PRC and sold in local currency. The K-Tron Process Group also has an active research and development program which combines our expertise in weighing and control technologies with our knowledge of material handling to develop innovative, leading-edge products. Our customers include many of the Fortune 100 industrial companies as well as numerous other multinational, regional and local processors. With manufacturing facilities in the United States, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and sales and service offices and representatives in more than 60 countries, the K-Tron Process Group provides worldwide support to its customers. Our Size Reduction Group originated in January 2003 with our acquisition of Pennsylvania Crusher Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jeffrey Specialty Equipment Corporation. Pennsylvania Crusher is the leading U.S. manufacturer of size reduction equipment that is sold mainly to electric utility companies to crush coal before it is used as fuel in the steam furnaces of coal-fired power generation plants. Jeffrey is a leading U.S. manufacturer of wood hogs and other size reduction equipment for use primarily by companies in the pulp and paper and wood and forest products industries. In March 2006, we enlarged our Size Reduction Group through the purchase of J.M.J. Industries, Inc., which operated its business under the Gundlach name. Gundlach is a leading U.S. manufacturer of size reduction equipment used by coal mining companies to crush coal at the mine mouth and the preparation plant. With both Gundlach and Pennsylvania Crusher, we have increased our presence in the coal supply chain, from the size reduction of coal at the mine to its further crushing at the coal-fired power plant. In September 2007, we further increased the scope of our Size Reduction Group by acquiring Rader Companies, Inc. Rader manufactures pneumatic conveying systems, screening equipment, engineered storage and reclaim systems and truck dumpers for processing bark and wood chips for the pulp and paper and wood and forest products industries. Rader's Razorback™ hammermill is used to size bark and waste wood in wood fiber processing applications. Rader's EDK feeder-delumper is used by the petrochemical industry in manufacturing polypropylene and polyethylene. The combination of our Jeffrey and Rader subsidiaries significantly enhances the strong position of each company in the pulp and paper and wood and forest products industries. A majority of our Size Reduction Group’s business comes from replacement part sales, since each company within the Group has a large installed base of long-lived equipment. K-Tron’s vision is to continue to execute our strategy and expand our position as one of the world’s leading specialty process equipment companies. The organic growth of our two existing business lines, fueled by innovative new products and exemplary service to our customers, is one way to meet that goal. A second way is through diversification into complementary products and by acquisition of other market leaders like Gundlach, Premier and Rader that will broaden our addressed industries and customer base. We are committed to both approaches in our quest to achieve our vision and create shareholder value. Annual Report You can read online or download our 2007 Annual Report, which includes financial highlights and our letter to shareholders (PDF file). Our 2007 Letter to Shareholders is also available in HTML. You may view our 2007 Form 10-K on EDGAR or request more Investor Information from K-Tron using this online form. News Releases via PR Newswire K-Tron's financial and other business news releases are issued via PR Newswire. You can view all such news releases posted this year, and an archive of earlier releases, on our company news page. You can also sign up for an automatic e-mail alert when news is posted, or get a stock quote and chart. Corporate Governance Learn more about our corporate governance policies. Contact K-Tron International Look up a K-Tron office or use our handy Contact Us Form to ask a question, sign up for news releases or request an investor information kit. |