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KIK International Acquires Mid-west Based Hi-lex Corp.

2 September 1999

KIK International Acquires Mid-west Based Hi-lex Corp.; Acquisition Gives KIK its 8th and 9th Plants

    MINNEAPOLIS--Sept. 2, 1999--Less than six months after its last acquisition, KIK International is pleased to announce that it has just closed another transaction in which it has acquired the Mid-west based Hi-lex Corp., and its two key manufacturing plants, located in Eagan, Minn., and Denver, Colo.
    Hi-lex is a highly respected manufacturer of private label household cleaning and automotive care products, as well as the regional brand "Hi-lex" bleach, which is a market leader in the North Central and Rocky Mountain areas of the United States.
    The acquisition gives KIK its 8th and 9th owned and operated manufacturing plants, and will add approximately $14.2USD million to KIK International's current sales. In addition to increasing KIK's top line growth, the acquisition also adds to KIK's manufacturing space. With the addition of Hi-lex, KIK International will have approximately 1 million square feet of manufacturing space for the consolidated group, through nine vertically-integrated manufacturing plants, with processing, batching, blow moulding (bottle making), and filling capabilities in each plant.
    Today, across North America, over 90 percent of KIK's sales are generated and produced in the company's nine facilities, compared to just 10 percent only 48 months ago.
    David Cynamon, chairman and CEO of KIK International, noted that "This acquisition is one more key step in our strategy to build KIK into a truly national, North American supplier. In addition, it enables us to provide superior service, products and delivery to our customers in the North Central and Rocky Mountain areas of the United States. Overall, the acquisition increases our capability to service the demands of large national retailers, more and more of whom are aggressively marketing products in the dynamic and fast-growing private label category."
    KIK International is North America's largest packager of private label retail household bleach, and one of the largest North American manufacturers of other private label liquid household cleaning products for such major retailers as Wal-Mart, Kmart, Loblaws, HEB, Safeway and Albertson's across the United States and Canada. Today, KIK International has over 50 product lines and nine owned manufacturing facilities located in: Houston, TX; Slidell, LA; Toronto, ON; Edmonton, AB; Sacramento, CA; Tacoma, WA; Sante Fe Springs, CA; and most recently, Eagan, MN; and Denver, CO.