Illinois Tool Works Inc. Acquires Baking Equipment Business Peerless Machinery Corp.

GLENVIEW, Ill., Jan. 7, 2008 -- Illinois Tool Works Inc. today announced that it has acquired the assets of Peerless Machinery Corp., a leading manufacturer and supplier of mixers, bread dividers, dough handlers, and other food processing equipment. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Peerless Group will be a wholly owned business unit of ITW and part of the company's existing food equipment group. ITW will continue to operate Peerless as a separate business under the Peerless brand name.

"Peerless has an excellent reputation in the industry and is a good fit in ITW's portfolio of food equipment businesses," said Marc Fooksman, a group president of ITW. "The acquisition of Peerless will help support the continued growth of the food equipment group, specifically in the wholesale baking industry."

The Peerless Group is based in Sidney, Ohio and is a global supplier of capital equipment to the wholesale baking industry. Formed in 1913, The Peerless Group has grown into one of the most diverse suppliers serving the bread and roll, cake and snack and cookie and cracker markets.

ITW is a $14.1 billion in revenues diversified manufacturer of highly engineered components and industrial systems and consumables. The company consists of approximately 750 business units in 49 countries and employs some 55,000 people.

To learn more, please visit http://www.thepeerlessgroup.us/ or http://www.itw.com/.