Carpenter Technology acquires Georgia Structural Cermaics Co.

READING, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 1995--Carpenter Technology Corp. (NYSE:CRS) exercised its option to purchase 100 percent of the stock of Technical Ceramics Laboratories Inc. (TCL) of Alpharetta, Ga., Tuesday from Ampersand Corporate Spinoff Ventures Ltd. Partnership.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

Carpenter has had ties to TCL since 1991, when it entered into two agreements, one to potentially buy the business and another for basic and applied research in structural ceramics. As a result, Carpenter has funded $10 million of research and development activities at TCL and invested $3 million in production equipment for TCL, a ceramics process development laboratory.

TCL has progressed from an R&D facility to a small manufacturing operation as a result of Carpenter's involvement.

Last year, Carpenter acquired a commercially successful structural ceramics company, Certech Inc. and its affiliated companies. Certech, a Wood-Ridge, N.J.-based company with about $19 million in annual sales, manufactures a broad line of complex, injection molded ceramic parts.

TCL will operate as part of Certech, so that Carpenter can participate in the marketplace with a single, integrated ceramics entity, under the name Certech.

"One of Carpenter's growth strategies is to enter new specialty materials businesses, such as structural ceramics," said Robert W. Cardy, Carpenter's president, chairman and chief executive officer.

"TCL is a complementary operation to Certech, in that the two companies' molding technologies and end-use markets differ. We believe we need to offer several technologies to be recognized as a viable participant in the structural ceramics industry."

Last year, Carpenter also licensed the Quick Set(R) technology of Ceramics Process Systems (CPS) Corp.

Certech injection molds silica, porcelain and alumina under high pressure to make ceramic parts using proprietary machines designed by Dr. Stuart Z. Uram, the founder and president of Certech. The TCL and Quick Set(R) injection molding technologies require low pressure to make near net shape parts.

"All three technologies have a place in manufacturing ceramic parts," said Dr. Nicholas F. Fiore, senior vice president, Strategic Businesses. "The technology used would depend upon a particular component's shape and dimensional requirements."

Some of the applications for TCL's technology are: -0-

o Ceramic fittings for the beverage dispensing industry, made in

the past from stainless steel;

o Near-net shape ceramic balls that replace steel bearings;

o Insulators in flame-type thermal spraying nozzles;

o Fiber optic ferrules used to connect fiber optic cable; and

o Spinnerettes used in the initial fiber-forming process for the

textile industry. -0-

A significant number of Carpenter's metals customers have been investigating the use of structural ceramics parts, because of temperature and wear resistance, lighter weight and near-net shape capability, Fiore said. Carpenter's core business is the manufacture and marketing of specialty metal products for aerospace, automotive, electronics and other industries worldwide.

As part of its growth strategy, the company also has expanded this business internationally: In 1993, Carpenter entered into a joint steel manufacturing venture in Taiwan and acquired a Mexican distribution company. In fiscal year 1994 (ended June 30, 1994), the company had sales of $629 million.

CONTACT: Carpenter Technology, Reading

Katharine Marshall, 610/208-3034