Contact Information: Contacts: Chuck Coppa CFO Lyle Jensen CEO GreenMan Technologies 800-526-0860 John Nesbett Institutional Marketing Services, Inc. 203-972-9200
GreenMan Technologies Acquire Welch Products, Inc.
Acquisition Leverages GreenMan's Crumb Rubber Manufacturing Capabilities and Creates Vertically Integrated Products Subsidiary With Enhanced Growth Opportunity
| Source: GreenMan Technologies Inc.
DES MOINES, IA--(Marketwire - October 2, 2007) - GreenMan Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB : GMTI ), a
leading recycler of over 12 million scrap tires per year in the United
States, today announced it has acquired Welch Products, Inc. The October 1,
2007 transaction was structured as a share exchange in which 100 percent of
Welch Products' common stock will be exchanged for 8 million shares of
GreenMan's common stock. GreenMan has completed the acquisition of
approximately 98 percent of Welch's common stock and expects to acquire the
remaining Welch common stock over the next few days.
Headquartered in Carlisle, Iowa, Welch Products specializes in design,
product development, and manufacturing of environmentally responsible
products using recycled materials, primarily recycled rubber. The company's
patented products and processes include playground safety tiles, roadside
anti-vegetation products, construction molds and highway guard-rail rubber
spacer blocks. Through its recent acquisition of Playtribe, Inc., Welch
also provides innovative playground design, equipment and installation.
Welch Products has been a major crumb rubber customer of GreenMan for the
past several years.
For the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2007, Welch Products and
Playtribe had combined unaudited revenues of approximately $3.5 million.
Based on customer interest and quote activity, GreenMan expects continued
growth in the second half of calendar 2007 and significant growth in
calendar 2008 when Welch's EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortization) and net income are expected to be accretive.
Through the company's National Safe Surface Initiative®, Welch Products
has created an emerging product line and unique patented marketing program
focused on: (1) improving playground safety and accessibility; (2) lowering
playground maintenance costs; and (3) mitigating playground liability risks
for schools, community and state parks, and child care centers. Welch's
Duromat Extended Life™ playground safety tiles are manufactured with a
patented "cold-cure" process that allows high quality crumb rubber tiles to
have a unique long life, even in extreme hot and cold temperatures.
Additionally, a new market requirement created by the American Disabilities
Act ("ADA") requires schools and other public playgrounds to provide all
children access to outdoor play. Welch Products believes that loose-fill
surfacing (e.g., wood chips, mulch, sand, and pea gravel) is rarely
maintained to proper safety levels and does not allow children in
wheelchairs or with other disabilities to easily use playground equipment.
Welch Products' playground tiles are fully-ADA compliant and, during
independent tests performed by the National Program for Playground Safety,
demonstrated a 75 percent reduction in emergency room injuries given proper
supervision.
The acquisition of PlayTribe, Inc., an innovative playground design,
equipment, and installation company, provides playground equipment and
recreational site amenities that encourage safe and imaginative play.
Welch and PlayTribe are pioneering a unique, high-value-add sales strategy
which circumvents the traditional distributor channels and sells directly
to the end customer. This strategy has created enhanced customer
satisfaction attributable to the companies' comprehensive approach to
providing an overall solution for compliance, safety, accessibility, and
turn-key quality installation.
Lyle Jensen, President and Chief Executive Officer of GreenMan
Technologies, states, "Welch Products has developed strong brand names and
high levels of customer satisfaction in the playground marketplace which
supports a premium price point given the products' compelling safety
profile and endorsements by various public and private organizations. The
marriage of GreenMan and Welch/Playtribe allows both companies to build on
each other's strengths and opens up a new billion dollar market."
Welch Products' Interim Chief Executive Officer & Managing Partner of First
Continental Group ("FCG"), Bruce Boland commented, "Our Welch and FCG
people have spent a great deal of human and financial resources in
developing the Welch Overall Solutions® Project. The objective was to
prove the value of sustainable value-add products made from used rubber
that put people to work, provide safety for children, and prove to be a
wise use of taxpayer dollars. We believe the end-result of this merger will
give the Iowa Legislature on both sides of the aisle, the National Program
for Playground Safety from Cedar Falls, Iowa, and our hard working
employees who designed and developed this unique project within the borders
of Iowa, the recognition they justly deserve."
Mr. Boland added, "We feel this merger with GreenMan is based on a number
of sound business decisions that match up the strengths of both companies
and we are comfortable that Lyle Jensen can provide the necessary
leadership to drive this next phase of our business model as we look to a
stronger calendar 2008. In our view, this adds up to a win-win for our
customers, school children, bi-partisan legislatures, and all shareholders
going forward. We are very excited about the future of the combined
companies and will continue to help our combined investment grow."
Please join us Wednesday, October 3, 2007, at 2:00 PM EDT for a conference
call in which we will discuss the Welch acquisition in more detail. To
participate, please call 1-888-789-0150 and ask for the GreenMan call. A
replay of the conference call can be accessed until 11:50 PM on October 31,
2007 by calling 1-800-408-3053 and entering pass code 3238370.
About GreenMan Technologies
GreenMan Technologies pursues technological processes and unique marketing
programs to transform recycled materials into renewable fuel, alternative
energy, recycled feedstock, and innovative recycled products. Over twelve
million tires are collected and recycled annually into tire-derived fuel,
tire-derived aggregate, and crumb rubber feedstock for playground, athletic
track and field, and road surfacing. Through the company's Welch Products
subsidiary, the company develops and markets branded products and services
that provide schools and other political subdivisions viable solutions for
safety, compliance, and accessibility. To learn more about all of the
companies, please visit the following websites:
www.greenman.biz
www.welchproducts.com
www.nssi-usa.com
www.playtribe.com
"Safe Harbor" Statement: Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
With the exception of the historical information contained in this news
release, the matters described herein contain "forward-looking" statements
that involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or collectively
impact the matters herein described, including but not limited to the
possibility that we may not be able to secure the financing necessary to
return to profitability, the possibility that the delisting of our stock by
the American Stock Exchange could substantially limit our stock's future
liquidity and our ability to raise capital, the possibility that we may
not realize the benefits of product acceptance, economic, competitive,
governmental, seasonal, management, technological and/or other factors
outside the control of the Company, which are detailed from time to time in
the Company's SEC reports, including the annual report on Form 10-KSB for
the fiscal period ended September 30,2006. The Company disclaims any
intent or obligation to update these "forward-looking" statements.