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Freudenberg-NOK Buys Macrotech/Selastomer

12 May 1998

Freudenberg-NOK Acquires Macrotech/Selastomer, Expands General Industry Offering & Capacity

    PLYMOUTH, Mich., May 12 -- Continuing its commitment to
grow its general industry business, Freudenberg-NOK today announced that it
has acquired Macrotech/Selastomer of Bensenville, Ill., from Macrotech Fluid
Sealing Inc.  Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
    Macrotech/Selastomer -- with over 100 employees and annual revenues of
approximately $12 million -- manufactures a variety of specialized seals.
These include split crankshaft seals, radial shaft seals, and other powertrain
seals for OEM and aftermarket.
    "This acquisition fits nicely into Freudenberg-NOK's strategy in two ways,
as it helps to round out our automotive aftermarket product offering and it
also provides much-needed manufacturing capacity for our rapidly expanding
industrial products business," said Gregory W. Gyllstrom, president of
Freudenberg-NOK's General Industry Division.
    According to Gyllstrom, Macrotech's 55,000-square-foot Chicago-area
production plant will be integrated into Freudenberg-NOK's General Industry
Division and will quickly be converted to a one-piece-flow/lean systems
facility, consistent with the company's highly successful GROWTTH(R) (Get Rid
Of Waste Through Team Harmony) program.  This approach has helped Freudenberg-
NOK to grow dramatically over the past six years by  boosting productivity,
cutting costs, improving delivery and enhancing quality.
    In addition to the newly acquired Bensenville facility, Freudenberg-NOK's
General Industry Division operates five facilities which are dedicated to the
production of precision-molded products for the aerospace, appliance, business
machine, fluid power, marine, medical, off-highway equipment, recreational
vehicle and automotive replacement markets.
    Macrotech/Selastomer was founded in 1953 as Illinois Milling Inc. and was
renamed Selastomer in 1964.  It later became a division of Microdot Inc. until
it was purchased in 1989 by Macrotech, at which time it was renamed
Macrotech/Selastomer.
    Through a global network of facilities spanning 24 countries with some
21,500 employees worldwide, the Freudenberg-NOK Group of companies offers an
extensive portfolio of precision-molded products for a wide variety of
industrial and consumer products.
    The Freudenberg and NOK Group also offers its automotive customers
globally integrated products, including total sealing packages for vehicle
engines, transmissions and brakes, NVH components and modules, and all rubber,
plastic and PTFE components for suspension, steering, electrical and fuel
systems.  For more information, visit the Freudenberg-NOK web site at
http://www.freudenberg-nok.com.

SOURCE  Freudenberg-NOK