Matthews International Corporation announced that the Company, through its affiliate, has signed definitive agreements for the purchase of A. + E. Ungricht GmbH + Co KG (hereafter “Ungricht”) and Dornbusch Engraving GmbH (hereafter “Dornbusch”).

Ungricht is a leading European provider of pre-press services and gravure printing forms, located in Moenchengladbach, Germany. The products and services are sold worldwide. Dornbusch has a profound expertise in embossing rollers and corresponding services, located in Kempen, Germany. The acquisitions are designed to expand Matthews' products and services in the global surfaces market.

Joseph C. Bartolacci, President and Chief Executive Officer of Matthews, stated, “The combination of our existing businesses with Ungricht and Dornbusch will increase our European production capacities and provide expanded product and service capabilities for our European and global customers." Terms of the acquisition were not immediately disclosed.

The transactions, which are subject to regulatory approval in Germany, are expected to close during Matthews’ 2017 second fiscal quarter. Matthews International Corporation is a global provider of brand solutions, memorialization products and industrial automation solutions. The SGK Brand Solutions segment is a leader in the delivery of brand development, activation and deployment services that help build our clients’ brands and consumers’ desire for them. The Memorialization segment is a leading provider of memorialization products, including memorials, caskets and cremation equipment, primarily to cemetery and funeral home customers that help families move from grief to remembrance. The Industrial segment designs, manufactures and distributes marking, coding and industrial automation technologies and solutions. We have more than 10,000 employees in more than 25 countries on six continents that are committed to delivering the highest quality products and 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.