PITTSBURGH, Nov. 26, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Matthews International Corporation (Nasdaq:MATW) today announced the completion of its purchase of Wetzel Holding AG, Wetzel GmbH and certain related affiliates (collectively "Wetzel"). Wetzel is a leading European provider of pre-press services and gravure printing forms. Wetzel is headquartered in Muenchenstein/BL, Switzerland and has its principal manufacturing operations in Germany and Poland. Matthews initially announced on September 19, 2012 the signing of the definitive agreement for the purchase, which was subject to regulatory approval in Germany.
Wetzel will operate as a subsidiary within Matthews' Graphics Imaging Group. Sales for Wetzel were estimated to be approximately €40 million (U.S.$52 million) for fiscal 2012 and the company has approximately 400 employees.
Matthews International Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a designer, manufacturer and marketer principally of memorialization products and brand solutions. Memorialization products consist primarily of bronze and granite memorials and other memorialization products, caskets and cremation equipment for the cemetery and funeral home industries. Brand solutions include graphics imaging products and services, marking and fulfillment systems, and merchandising solutions. The Company's products and services include cast bronze and granite memorials and other memorialization products; caskets; cast and etched architectural products; cremation equipment and cremation-related products; mausoleums; brand management; printing plates and cylinders, pre-press services and imaging services for the primary packaging and corrugated industries; marking and coding equipment and consumables, industrial automation products and order fulfillment systems for identifying, tracking, picking and conveying consumer and industrial products; and merchandising display systems and marketing and design services.
Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are included pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to be materially different from management's expectations. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove correct. Factors that could cause the Company's results to differ materially from the results discussed in such forward-looking statements principally include changes in economic conditions, competitive environment, death rate, foreign currency exchange rates, and technological factors beyond the Company's control.