Regal Beloit Acquires Majority Interest in Elco Group B.V.

BELOIT, Wis., Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Regal Beloit Corporation (NYSE: RBC) today announced that it has acquired 55% of Elco Group B.V. ("Elco").  Elco manufactures and sells motors, fans and blowers and has manufacturing facilities in Italy, China, and Brazil.  Elco's management will continue to lead the company following the acquisition.

The acquisition is expected to add approximately $10 million to sales and minimal impact to diluted earnings per share in the fourth quarter 2010, including the estimated impact of purchase accounting and intangible amortization based on the preliminary purchase price allocation. Sales for Elco in 2011 are expected to be approximately $80 million, and the addition to diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $.08.

According to Henry W. Knueppel, Chairman and CEO of Regal Beloit, "We are very excited to announce our investment in Elco. The company has an outstanding management team that has grown the business in Europe, Asia and South America. The addition of Elco strengthens our European commercial position and adds to our product offerings in commercial refrigeration and air moving applications.  The Elco addition represents continued progress on our strategy of geographic and market segment diversification."  

Mr. Luciano Colombo, CEO of Elco said, "We are are excited with the investment in Elco. The partnership between Regal Beloit and Elco will allow us to combine our technology capabilities and offer increased value to our customers."

ABOUT REGAL BELOIT CORPORATION:

Regal Beloit Corporation is a leading manufacturer of mechanical and electrical motion control and power generation products serving markets throughout the world.  Regal Beloit is headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin, and has manufacturing, sales, and service facilities throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.  Regal Beloit's common stock is a component of the S&P Mid Cap 400 Index and the Russell 2000 Index.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

Certain statements made in this press release are "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations, beliefs, current assumptions and projections.  When used in this press release, words such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "should," "project" or "plan" or the negative thereof or similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Those factors include, but are not limited to:

• economic changes in global markets where we do business, such as reduced demand for the products we sell, weakness in the housing and commercial real estate markets, currency exchange rates, inflation rates, interest rates, recession, foreign government policies and other external factors that we cannot control;
• unanticipated fluctuations in commodity prices and raw material costs;
• cyclical downturns affecting the global market for capital goods;
• unexpected issues and costs arising from the integration of acquired companies and businesses;
• marketplace acceptance of new and existing products including the loss of, or a decline in business from, any significant customers;
• the impact of capital market transactions that we may effect;
• the availability and effectiveness of our information technology systems;
• unanticipated costs associated with litigation matters;
• actions taken by our competitors, including new product introductions or technological advances, and other events affecting our industry and competitors;
• difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;
• other domestic and international economic and political factors unrelated to our performance, such as the current substantial weakness in economic and business conditions and the stock markets as a whole; and
• other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, which are incorporated by reference.

Shareholders, potential investors, and other readers are urged to consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements and cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.  Additional information regarding these and other risks and factors is included in Item 1A - Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 2, 2010.

Website:  www.regalbeloit.com

SOURCE Regal Beloit Corporation