免费吃瓜

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,聽Oct. 27, 2015聽// -- 免费吃瓜, Inc. (NYSE: FLOW) today announced a multi-year plan to expand its manufacturing presence at a new facility in Bydgoszcz,聽Poland聽and reduce its overall, global manufacturing overhead.聽 As part of the initial phase of this plan, during 2016 the company intends to shift production to Bydgoszcz,聽Poland聽from its manufacturing facilities in Unna,聽Germany聽and Kolding,聽Denmark聽and close the Unna and Kolding facilities. Discussions with the works councils at the Unna and Kolding locations are underway.

The company anticipates opportunities beyond the initial phase of this plan, to shift additional manufacturing to聽Poland聽and further reduce overhead. Once fully optimized, the transition of manufacturing to聽Poland聽is expected to result in approximately 100 points of segment margin improvement, or approximately聽$25 million聽of segment income per year, at current revenue volumes.

In the third quarter 2015, the company recorded聽$24 million聽of special charges related to the two planned facility closures which was not included in the company's previously issued Q3 2015 financial targets.

Chris Kearney, Chairman, President and CEO said, "Given the current challenging demand environment across our end markets and low expectations for growth in 2016, we are aggressively moving forward on plans to optimize our global footprint, reduce manufacturing overhead and improve productivity. We are investing in capacity expansions in聽Poland, Korea and the聽Middle East聽that we believe will improve our competitive position and enable us to better serve our customers. As we execute on these plans our highest priority remains providing our customers with industry leading products and services, delivered on-time."

As part of the multi-year plan to reduce manufacturing overhead and optimize its global footprint, the company is constructing a 300,000 square foot facility in Bydgoszcz,聽Poland聽near its European Distribution Center and existing manufacturing facility, which has a strong track record for high quality manufacturing and on-time delivery for valves, heat exchangers, pumps, and skidded systems.

Once the new facility is built and local works council negotiations are complete, the company intends to transition the manufacturing operations from Unna,聽Germany, Kolding,聽Denmark聽and the existing plant in Bydgoszcz,聽Poland聽into the newly constructed manufacturing facility. The company plans to retain its customer service, sales, engineering and aftermarket personnel in Unna and Kolding.

During the transition, normal operations are expected to continue at the Unna and Kolding facilities. Should the need arise, the company has well-established locations in other parts of the world with the capability and capacity to supply the products currently manufactured in the Unna and Kolding facilities. This transition of these two facilities is anticipated to be completed near the end of 2016.

The new facility in聽Poland聽is designed to have capacity beyond the initial consolidation phase. The company expects to fill this capacity through a combination of additional footprint rationalizations and potential organic growth. The company intends to continue evaluating additional opportunities for overhead reduction and improved productivity.

The net investment on this multi-year plan to shift manufacturing activities to聽Poland聽and capitalize on economies of scale is expected to be between聽$60 and $65 million, including a net capital investment of approximately聽$20 million聽and special charges of聽$40 to $45 million. The majority of this investment is expected to be recorded in the second half of 2015 and the first half of 2016. Additionally, the company has been granted up to聽$25 million聽in tax incentives from the Polish government, which will offset a portion of the investment over time.

免费吃瓜 Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer聽Chris Kearney聽and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer聽Jeremy Smeltser聽will provide additional details related to this plan along with the company's third quarter earnings during a conference call on聽Wednesday, October 28, 2015聽at聽8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

Those interested in participating in the conference call should dial in five minutes prior to the start of the call. The call will be simultaneously webcast via the company's website at聽聽and the slide presentation will be available in the Investor Relations section of the site.

Conference Call:
Dial in:聽 877-787-3040
From outside the United States:聽 +1 530-379-4719
Conference ID:聽 57671011

A replay of the call will be available by telephone through聽Saturday, November 7.
To listen to a replay of the call:聽
Dial in:聽 855-859-2056
From outside the United States:聽 +1 404-537-3406
Conference ID:聽 57671011

免费吃瓜 免费吃瓜, Inc.:
Based in聽Charlotte, North Carolina, 免费吃瓜 is a leading global supplier of highly engineered flow components, process equipment and turn-key systems, along with the related aftermarket parts and services, into the food and beverage, power and energy and industrial end markets. 免费吃瓜 has approximately聽$2.5 billion聽in annual revenues and approximately 8,000 employees with operations in over 35 countries and sales in over 150 countries around the world. To learn more about 免费吃瓜, please visit our website at聽.听听听

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to (1) progress in, completion of, operation of, or transition of operations to, the Bydgoszcz,聽Poland聽facility, (2) closure of the company's manufacturing facilities in Unna,聽Germany聽and Kolding,聽Denmark, or (3) other related matters described above. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In addition, estimates of future operating results are based on the company's current complement of businesses, which is subject to change. Please read this press release in conjunction with the company's documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify important risk factors and other uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from these statements. Statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and 免费吃瓜 disclaims any responsibility to update or revise such statements.

Investor and Media Contact:
Ryan Taylor, Vice President, Communications, Market Insights and Financial Planning聽
Phone:聽 704-752-4486
贰-尘补颈濒:听investor@免费吃瓜.com

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