Thomas Industries and Gardner Denver Enter Into Merger Agreement
CHICAGO (March 14, 2005) — McDermott Will & Emery is representing Thomas Industries Inc. (NYSE: TII) in connection with the sale of Thomas Industries, Inc. to Gardner Denver, Inc. (NYSE: GDI) announced on March 9, 2005. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Gardner Denver will pay $40.00 per share in cash for all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Thomas Industries. At the close of the transaction, Thomas will become a subsidiary of Gardner Denver and will no longer be a publicly traded company.
The McDermott team is led by Michael Fayhee, head of the Firm's Tax Department and Chicago corporate partner John Tamisiea, and includes corporate partner Heidi Steele. Additionally, partners Stephen Miller and Joseph Adams in Chicago are advising on benefits issues. Partners Joseph Winterscheid in Washington, D.C. and Oliver Steffens in Munich are advising on antitrust matters. Mark Bilut, a partner in the Chicago office is advising on environmental matters, and partner Dan Zucker in Chicago.
Gardner Denver, headquartered in Quincy, Illinois, is a worldwide manufacturer of reciprocating, rotary and vane compressors, liquid ring pumps and blowers for various industrial and transportation applications, pumps used in the petroleum and industrial markets, and other fluid transfer equipment serving chemical, petroleum, and food industries.
Thomas Industries Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, designs, manufactures and markets Rietschle Thomas brand pumps and compressors for use in global OEM applications. Other products include Welch laboratory equipment and Oberdorfer bronze and high alloy liquid pumps. Thomas has wholly-owned operations in 21 countries, spanning five continents.
