Creating a Global Leader in Glove Innovation

August 16 – Tillotson Corporation and Showa Glove of Japan today jointly announced the signing of a purchase and sale agreement whereby Showa will acquire all of Tillotson’s Best Glove operations and subsidiaries, creating a global leader in glove manufacturing and product development.

The transaction, expected to close within the next 45 days, brings together two well-respected innovation leaders in the glove marketplace. Upon closing, Best will continue to operate as a stand-alone company and will be headquartered in Menlo, Georgia, as a division of Showa Glove. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This creates one of the largest hand protection manufacturers in the world with a product portfolio that encompasses many of the world’s most trusted and widely used glove brands. The combination of Showa and Best offers:

• Best-in-class technology. With a focus on research and development, the combined company will be uniquely positioned to continue and accelerate the Best/Showa tradition of introducing new, innovative products.
• Comprehensive hand and arm product portfolio. The high quality of Showa’s and Best’s products has earned both companies recognition as industry leaders. Combined, the two offer a full range of the highest quality protective gloves to industries ranging from automotive and manufacturing to construction, health care, technology and food service.
• Extensive channel coverage. The merged company will have one of the world’s strongest sales and service organizations focused exclusively on hand protection.
• Global production facilities. With global production facilities (U.S., Japan, Guatemala, Vietnam, Malaysia and Canada), the companies will be able to manufacture closer to its customers, increase production capacity and operate under a global business model.

Bill Alico, president and chief executive officer of Tillotson Corporation, will serve as chief operating officer of the new company. As part of the transaction, Alico, a glove industry veteran, will step down from his post at Tillotson.

"Best and Showa share a vision. We both are committed to developing the most advanced technology in hand protection. By combining our companies' complementary, best-in-class products and technologies, we expect to create a powerhouse in the hand protection market – one that has the potential to dramatically change the industry,” said Alico.

Yasunori Miura, president of Showa Glove stated, "We have had a strong relationship with Best Manufacturing for some time now through our strategic partnership as the sole-source provider of Showa’s Hi-Tech line of hand protection in North America. Through these discussions we have come to know the organization as one of high integrity, high standards and a commitment to excellence." Miura continued, "We believe our alignment with Best Manufacturing is a solid decision which serves the best interest of customers, employees and the communities we serve."

Best Manufacturing is one of the world's leading manufacturers of hand protection for industrial and medical markets. For more information on Best Manufacturing, visit www.bestglove.com.

SHOWA Co. of Himeji, Japan is one of the largest industrial glove manufacturers in the world with production facilities in Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. For more information, visit www.showaco.com.