Escalade®, Inc.
Acquires 22% of Schleicher & Co. International AG
Evansville, IN (September
13, 2002). Escalade®, Inc. (NASDAQ:
ESCA) through its wholly owned subsidiary, Martin Yale Industries®, Inc.,
has acquired 21.98% of the outstanding shares of Schleicher & Co. International
AG.
The Schleicher Group was founded in 1956 under the original Name of DIXI
Maschinenbau GmbH in Markdorf/Germany. The company was one of the first
producers of data shredders in the world and continues to be one of the leading
companies in this business today. In 1989 the company was registered at the
Stock Exchanges in Frankfurt and Stuttgart in Germany under the name of
Schleicher & Co. International AG (SLI) and the shares are traded actively.
Consolidated annual sales of the Schleicher group are approximately US $46
million worldwide.
The company manufactures a complete line of data shredders, starting with small
Personal Shredders sold under the trademark "Papermonster", and continuing with
shredders for the office world under the famous trademark "intimus".
"intimus" shredders are used all over the world in small and large enterprises
and also in the large administrations and the Government offices and agencies.
The high security shredders are used by most Armed Forces and Embassies. The
company also manufactures a complete line of large and very powerful shredders
for destruction of high volumes as well as complete folders including the metal
parts and bound books.
Subsidiaries have been established in the USA, United Kingdom, France and
Austria. In 1998 Olympia Business Systems Inc. in the USA was purchased. This
company sells a variety of office machines under the world-famous trademark
"Olympia" in the U.S. Schleicher is represented by well-established Trading
Companies in more than 120 countries throughout the world.
In 1997 Schleicher set up its own Representative Office in Beijing and in 2001
in Shanghai to better serve the growing Market in the People Republic of China.
Affiliated Companies were established in CZECH Republic and India.
For several years, Schleicher has purchased and distributed certain Martin Yale®
products in the U.S., UK and France. In August 2002, Martin Yale® and Schleicher
signed a sales agreement, allowing Schleicher to distribute Martin Yale®
products throughout the world and more recently has decided to co-operate to
develop products for the worldwide market.
The Board of Directors has neither decided for, nor against, any future
investments in Schleicher shares.
For more information on Martin Yale® visit
www.martinyale.com
Escalade® is a quality manufacturer and marketer of sporting goods and
office/graphic arts products sold worldwide by better resellers.
For more information on Escalade®, Inc., contact John R. Wilson, Vice President
and CFO at 812/467-1265 or C.W. (Bill) Reed, President and CEO at 260/563-0621.
