Lifetime Brands, Inc. Acquires Fred® & Friends
Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NasdaqGS: LCUT), a global provider of branded
housewares products, today announced it has acquired the business and
certain assets of Easy Aces, Inc., which operates under the name Fred®
& Friends (“F&F”). F&F designs and markets novelty housewares and other
products under the Fred® brand.
Fred® products include innovative and fun kitchen tools,
tabletop accessories, party goods, personal accessories and desk and
tech products. Fred® products are primarily distributed
through independent specialty stores, selected major retailers and small
chains, primarily in the U.S. and Canada.
Jeffrey Siegel, Lifetime’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer commented,
“Lifetime’s access to international markets in Europe, Mexico, Brazil
and China provides opportunities to introduce Fred® products
into new markets and distribution channels. At the same time, Lifetime
will benefit from F&F’s strong relationships with independent specialty
stores, which should enable Lifetime to increase distribution of our
recently introduced Savora® line of unique upscale kitchen
tools and gadgets, which is targeted to this retail segment.”
Frederick A. Roses, F&F’s founder and “Head Fred,” said,
“Our very motivated and talented team looks forward to becoming a part
of Lifetime. We’ll get to keep doing what we’re best at -- designing
products that put smiles on peoples’ faces and working with our
designers, suppliers and customers -- and let the folks at Lifetime take
care of the rest.”
F&F’s website is www.fredandfriends.com.
The company is located in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
The acquisition is expected to be accretive to the Company’s diluted
earnings per share in 2013. Terms of the acquisition were not announced.
Forward-Looking Statements
In this press release, the use of the words “believe,” "could,"
"expect," "may," "positioned," "project," "projected," "should," "will,"
"would" or similar expressions is intended to identify forward-looking
statements that represent the Company’s current judgment about possible
future events. The Company believes these judgments are reasonable, but
these statements are not guarantees of any events or financial results,
and actual results may differ materially due to a variety of important
factors. Such factors might include, among others, the Company’s ability
to comply with the requirements of its credit agreements; the
availability of funding under such credit agreements; the Company’s
ability to maintain adequate liquidity and financing sources and an
appropriate level of debt; changes in general economic conditions which
could affect customer payment practices or consumer spending; the impact
of changes in general economic conditions on the Company’s customers;
changes in demand for the Company’s products; shortages of and price
volatility for certain commodities; significant changes in the
competitive environment and the effect of competition on the Company’s
markets, including on the Company’s pricing policies, financing sources
and an appropriate level of debt.
Lifetime Brands, Inc.
Lifetime Brands is a leading global provider of kitchenware, tabletop
and other products used in the home. The Company markets its products
under such well-known kitchenware brands as Farberware®,
KitchenAid®, CasaMōda®, Cuisinart®,
Cuisine de France®, Guy Fieri®, Hoffritz®,
Kizmos™, Misto®, Pedrini®, Roshco®,
Sabatier®, Savora™ and Vasconia®; respected
tabletop brands such as Mikasa®, Pfaltzgraff®,
Creative Tops®, Gorham®, International®
Silver, Kirk Stieff®, Sasaki®, Towle®
Silversmiths, Tuttle®, Wallace®, V&A®
and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew®; and home solutions brands,
including Fred®, Elements®, Melannco®,
Kamenstein® and Design for Living™. The Company also provides
exclusive private label products to leading retailers worldwide.
The Company’s website is www.lifetimebrands.com.