ACQUISITION OF UNITED FLEXIBLE, INC.

A strong family keeps growing.

TUTCO is the world's largest supplier of open coil heating elements, producing over 35,000 heaters a day and leading the industry in heating innovation. We are part of Flex-Tek, one of the five business columns of SMITHS GROUP with over 20’000 employees. TUTCO heating components can be found in countless commercial applications, including refrigeration, HVAC, appliance, lab equipment, vending, packaging, converting, medical equipment and plastic processing. The technical and commercial synergy potentials of being part of this powerful family are enormous and this family keeps growing.

Early this month, Tedd Smith – President of Flex-Tek – announced the acquisition of United Flexible, Inc., a provider of flexible and rigid engineered solutions for the transfer of fluids and gases in performance-critical environments, with a focus on aerospace, defense, and industrial end markets. We’re excited by the acquisition, and how it can help develop our fluid conveyance capabilities, particularly in the aerospace and industrial end markets. And we’re equally excited by the existing positions on the Airbus A320neo, PW1000G and F-135 engine programs it brings.

We’ll add around 700 new colleagues, at four US and three Europe-based locations, who will join when the sale process completes, expected to take place in the second half of FY2019, following competition and government clearances. The combination brings together highly complementary products and capabilities. Together, we will be able to offer a more compelling proposition to Titeflex, Flexible Solutions and United Flexible customers with class leading products. It will also help build our international presence.

Together with the recent results announcements, this acquisition underlines our growth ambitions for Flex-Tek, and is a reflection of the considerable success we’ve achieved to date.

Proud to be SMITHS.