Ingersoll-Rand, Taiwan Fu Hsing form strategic alliance on door-lock biz

Taipei, May 23, 2005 (CENS)--Ingersoll-Rand Co., Ltd., a U.S.-based maker of varied industrial equipment and components, and Taiwan Fu Hsing Industrial Co. Ltd. , a leading manufacturer of mechanical door locks based in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, have signed a contract to form a strategic alliance to jointly tap the global market for door docks.

Under the contract, both parties cannot set up joint ventures with any third party without permission of each other.

Under the contract, Ingersoll-Rand will acquire a majority stake in Taiwan Fu Hsing's mechanical door lock manufacturing subsidiaries in China and Malaysia for US$46 million. The deal will have to be approved by the government and shareholders of Taiwan Fu Hsing. Should these conditions be met, the joint venture is expected to be established in the third quarter of 2005.

Taiwan Fu Hsing said that the stake sales to Ingersoll-Rand are expected to generate income of about NT$935 million (US$29.87 million at US$1: NT$31.3), or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$4.87 (US$0.16), this year, making the company's annual pretax EPS to challenge NT$8 (US$0.26).

Ingersoll-Rand is a global provider of products, services, and integrated solutions to industries as diverse as transportation, manufacturing, construction, and agriculture, with an annual revenue of about US$9.3 billion. Ingersoll-Rand's Security Technologies Sector is a leading provider of mechanical locks, architectural hardware, electronic and biometric access-control systems, and other technologies and services for global security markets.

In a bid to constantly cut costs and upgrade competitiveness, Ingersoll-Rand has been seeking cooperation ties with partners in Asia and some developing nations, as well as exploring the huge mainland Chinese market. After more than one year of negations over the shareholding ratio, stock prices and cooperation modes, Ingersoll-Rand decided to form closer ties with Taiwan Fu Hsing.

Founded in 1957, Taiwan Fu Hsing is a well-established manufacturer and distributor of mechanical door locks primarily in the North American and Asian markets. The company has manufacturing operations located in mainland China, Malaysia and Taiwan.


Taiwan Fu Hsing officials said that the strategic alliance with Ingersoll-Rand is expected to help Taiwan Fu Hsing expand its global market share and upgrade its product development and manufacturing technologies.

Taiwan Fu Hsing has bought a new land lot in Changshu, Jiangsu Province of mainland China, where its new plant is scheduled for mass production next year.

Taiwan Fu Hsing's revenues came to NT$4.37 billion (US$139.52 million) last year, and is expect to grow to about NT$5 billion (US$159.74 million) this year. The cooperation with Ingersoll-Rand is expected to boost the firm's annual revenue to about NT$10 billion (US$319.49 million) in next four years, the company said.