HELSINKI, Finland, Dec. 21, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metso Minerals, the rock and minerals processing business area of Metso Corporation (NYSE:MX), has signed a letter of intent to divest its Hodge Foundry in Greenville, Pennsylvania to The General Casting Company. It is anticipated that a definitive agreement will be signed at the end of January 2002, with closing to follow shortly thereafter. Hodge Foundry currently employees 90 persons and its net sales were approx. USD 14.4 million in 2000.
Hodge Foundry is one of the planned divestitures published by Metso Minerals earlier this month. Hodge Foundry was transferred to Metso Minerals through the acquisition of Svedala Industri AB in September 2001.
Hodge Foundry is a leading specialty-engineering foundry which produces castings up to 175,000 pounds in ductile and gray iron and has annual volumes of 18,000 tons.
The General Casting Company is a non-automotive, medium to short run, jobbing foundry formed in 1990 by C. Frank De Meo, the present Chairman and CEO. The company consists of seven foundries which includes four green sand foundries and three airset foundries. Annual sales of The General Casting Company amount to USD 75.0 million.
Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems. Metso's core businesses are divided between Metso Paper (fiber and paper technology), Metso Minerals (rock and mineral processing) and Metso Automation (automation and control technology). In 2000, the net sales of Metso Corporation were EUR 3.9 billion, and the personnel totaled approximately 22,000. Metso Corporation is listed on the Helsinki and New York Stock Exchanges.
Metso completed its offer for Svedala Industri AB on September 14, 2001. Svedala is a global supplier of products and services for rock and mineral processes. Metso's and Svedala's combined net sales were approximately EUR 5,400 million (in 2000) and the amount of personnel is approximately 32,000.