NEWMARKET, Ontario, March 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AirBoss of America Corp. (TSX: BOS) (the "Company" or "AirBoss") today announced that AirBoss Defense Group (“ADG”) has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the manufacture and sale of 100,000 FlexAir™ Powered Air Purifying Respirator (“PAPR”) systems, 600,000 filters, and related accessories.  The contract is expected to be worth an aggregate amount of US$96.4 million and represents the single largest order received by ADG to date.  The majority of the order is scheduled to be rapidly delivered over a period of approximately 13 weeks with initial deliveries commencing promptly in the second quarter of 2020.  Since October 2018, AirBoss has received awards for a range of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (“CBRN”) protective solutions from governments internationally with a full value of nearly US$250 million.

“ADG continues to see increased levels of interest in selected protective products across its portfolio, as well as higher than normal order flows, in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Chris Bitsakakis, President and Chief Operating Officer of AirBoss.  “ADG was formed to establish a vertically-integrated survivability solutions platform with the scale, capabilities and expertise to address challenging situations just like this one. Our suite of critical survivability solutions is helping to save lives by supporting patients, first responders, medical professionals and the general public in the intensifying fight against this pandemic.  Over the last month we have worked closely with our supply chain partners to ensure continuity of supply for key components and materials, in addition to reviewing our manufacturing capacity at our sister facilities across the organization, to ensure we can meet the anticipated growth in demand for our range of innovative CBRN protective solutions.”

The FlexAir PAPR system is a compact, lightweight Powered Air Purifying Respirator system with an onboard lithium-ion battery installed in the waist-mounted blower unit. The design permits the use of two high efficiency particulate filters at a time providing protection against particulates, aerosols and biohazards, offering a very high level of defense against viruses like COVID-19. Wearers are protected by having contaminated air purified by filtration media mounted on the PAPR blower unit and delivered via a lightweight breathing hose to the user’s head cover. 

ADG and its predecessor companies have been designing and manufacturing PAPRs since 1985, with sales to all major service branches of the US military. ADG’s emergency response and protective equipment is also utilized by the U.S. Department of State, Office of Strategic Medical Preparedness, FEMA and Centers for Disease Control infectious disease treatment centers. In addition, ADG has provided protective equipment to emergency medical response teams and hospitals in more than 1,500 U.S. cities, as well as more than 30 countries worldwide. The Company successfully responded during the MERS and Ebola outbreaks, by providing critical protective equipment to government and civilian medical customers.

AirBoss of America Corp.

AirBoss of America Corp. is a group of complementary businesses using compounding technology and engineering expertise to create value for its customers. With a capacity to process over 450 million turn pounds of rubber annually, AirBoss Rubber Solutions is one of North America’s largest custom rubber compounding companies and a leading supplier of essential calendered and extruded products for a broad range of applications. AirBoss Engineered Products is a leading supplier of innovative antivibration solutions to the North American automotive market. AirBoss Defense Group is a world leader in the supply of survivability solutions to the defense and first responder industries. The Company’s shares trade on the TSX under the symbol BOS. Visit www.airbossofamerica.com or www.adg.com for more information.

AIRBOSS FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION DISCLAIMER

Certain statements contained or incorporated by reference herein, including those that express management’s expectations or estimates of future developments or AirBoss’ future performance, constitute “forward-looking information” or “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, and can generally be identified by words such as “will”, “may”, “could” “is expected to”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “forecasts”, “plans”, “intends” or similar expressions.  These statements are not historical facts but instead represent management’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events and performance.

Statements containing forward-looking information are necessarily based upon a number of opinions, estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at the time the statements are made, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties and contingencies.  AirBoss cautions that such forward-looking information involves known and unknown contingencies, uncertainties and other risks that may cause AirBoss’ actual financial results, performance or achievements to be materially different from its estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information.  Numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking information, including without limitation: impact of general economic conditions; dependence on key customers; cyclical trends in the tire and automotive, construction, mining and retail industries; sufficient availability of raw materials at economical costs; weather conditions affecting raw materials, production and sales; AirBoss’ ability to maintain existing customers or develop new customers in light of increased competition; AirBoss’ ability to successfully integrate acquisitions of other businesses and/or companies or to realize on the anticipated benefits thereof, changes in accounting policies and methods, including uncertainties associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates; changes in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar; changes in tax laws and potential litigation; ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms; environmental damage and non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations; potential product liability and warranty claims and equipment malfunction.  This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of AirBoss’ forward-looking information.

All of the forward-looking information in this press release is expressly qualified by these cautionary statements.  Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information.  All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information attributable to AirBoss or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice.  Forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this press release and, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, AirBoss disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly this forward-looking information except as required by applicable laws.  Risks and uncertainties about AirBoss’ business are more fully discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Information Form and are otherwise disclosed in our filings with securities regulatory authorities which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/69dceb73-4957-43f9-8668-6423f166ee4c