Newell Rubbermaid Announces Sale of Curver
Atlanta (ots/PRNewswire)
Newell Rubbermaid Inc. NYSE: NWL) announced today it has entered into an agreement for the intended sale of the company's Curver business to Jardin International Holding BV. The intended sale is subject to consultation with applicable works councils, trade unions and employees.
Curver, the company's European indoor organization and home storage division, contributed approximately US$140 million of revenue in 2004, reported in the company's Cleaning & Organization Segment. This transaction is consistent with the company's intention to divest non-strategic businesses and concentrate on leveraging brand strength and product innovation in its core portfolio of businesses. The transaction is expected to close in first quarter 2005, subject to regulatory approval and certain other customary conditions.
"Strengthening our portfolio remains a priority for the company," said Newell Rubbermaid CEO Joseph Galli. "We will continue to pursue opportunities to improve the focus on our core businesses, creating an organization capable of consistent, long-term growth and profitability."
Outlook
This transaction will not impact 2004 results. The company estimates a non-cash loss of approximately US$75-US$95 million will be recorded in the first quarter 2005 related to this transaction.
The company will update 2005 earnings guidance on January 27, 2005, in its fourth quarter and full year 2004 earnings release. Results will be released prior to market open, followed by a conference call at 9:30 am ET.
If you are interested in participating on the call, please RSVP by dialing +1-800-289-0579 or internationally at +1-719-457-2550 and provide the conference code 929053 to obtain the dial-in number for call. Participants can also RSVP through the web at https://ww4.premconf.com/webrsvp/register?conf_id=929053. The company's conference call will also be web cast at http://www.newellrubbermaid.com.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
The statements in this press release that are not historical in nature constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to information or assumptions about internal sales, income/(loss), earnings per share, capital expenditures, cash flow, dividends, restructuring and other charges, potential losses on divestiture, costs and cost savings and management's plans, projections and objectives for future operations and performance. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our dependence on the strength of retail economies in various parts of the world; competition with numerous other manufacturers and distributors of consumer products; major retailers' strong bargaining power; our ability to develop innovative new products and to develop, maintain and strengthen our end-user brands; our ability to improve productivity and streamline operations; our ability to integrate previously acquired businesses; the risks inherent in our foreign operations and those factors listed in the company's 2004 third quarter Form 10-Q, including Exhibit 99.1 thereto, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About Newell Rubbermaid
Newell Rubbermaid Inc. is a global marketer of consumer and commercial products with 2003 sales of US$7 billion and a powerful brand family including Sharpie(R), Paper Mate(R), Parker(R), Waterman(R), Rubbermaid(R), Calphalon(R), Little Tikes(R), Graco(R), Levolor(R), BernzOmatic(R), VISE-GRIP(R), IRWIN(R) and LENOX(R). The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., and employs over 33,000 employees worldwide.
Web site: http://www.newellrubbermaid.com https://ww4.premconf.com/webrsvp/register?conf_id=929053
Contact:
Jesse Herron, Vice President, Investor Relations, +1-770-407-3994, or
Susan Masten, Director, Public Relations, +1-770-407-3817, both of
Newell Rubbermaid Inc., fax, +1-770-407-3983; FCMN Contact:
susan.masten@newellco.com; Company News On-Call:
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