AirBoss Strengthens North American Rubber Compounding Positioning Through Acquisition of Ace Elastomer

(MENAFN- GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) NEWMARKET, Ontario, Aug. 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AirBoss of America Corp. (TSX: BOS) (OTCQX: ABSSF) (the“Company” or“AirBoss”) is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire 100% ownership of Ace Elastomer, Inc. (“Ace”) (the“Agreement”), a leading custom rubber compounder with facilities in Rock Hill, South Carolina and Chicago, IL.

Pursuant to the Agreement, AirBoss Rubber Solutions (“ARS”) will acquire Ace for approximately US$42.5 million, to be satisfied in cash upon closing. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the third quarter of 2021. Ace's President, founder and majority owner, Russell Foster, and the existing management team will all remain with Ace in their current capacities following the closing of the acquisition.

Strategic Rationale:

• Increases ARS' proprietary color and specialty rubber compounding capacity, complementing investments made by AirBoss in color and specialty compounding with the addition of two new dedicated lines in Kitchener, ON in 2019
  
• Significantly accelerates ARS' strategy to expand from traditional black, high volume product lines into lower volume but typically higher margin color and specialty markets
  
• Expands ARS' reach into the U.S. South and Mid-West
  
• Minimal overlap in customer-base presents opportunities for revenue synergies
  
• Establishes market leading position for ARS in the rubber roll market
  
• Transaction is expected to have an immediate positive impact on EBITDAi and earnings per share, with potential for cost and revenue synergies to be realized across ARS in future years.

Headquartered in Rock Hill, S.C., Ace provides design, formulation development, and custom mixing of proprietary elastomer compounds across the natural and synthetic polymer range. Ace offers a full range of custom mix compounds for many industries including the roller, belting, and printing industries and for custom molding and extrusion applications.

“Ace specializes in colored rubber compounds, a key focus area of growth for ARS. We expect this acquisition to propel AirBoss into a market leading position in color and specialty compounding while providing immediate access to a customer-base in key targeted regional U.S. markets,” said Chris Bitsakakis, President and COO of AirBoss.“As we begin the process of welcoming the great people at Ace into the AirBoss family we will continue to assess further M & A opportunities that can complement our organic growth strategy by accelerating penetration of our color and specialty compounding business into key U.S. markets.”

“As part of ARS, one of North America's leading custom rubber compounders, Ace will benefit from access to AirBoss's global supply chain expertise, leading R & D infrastructure, application experience and blue-chip customer relationships,” said Mr. Foster.“Like ARS, Ace's focus is on working successfully with customers across multiple channels to develop innovative and proprietary solutions and deliver high quality compounds, while operating in an environmentally responsible manner. We're excited to work with ARS and take advantage of the minimal overlap we have in our combined customer base by expanding the available products and solutions we can offer.”

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