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Baldor Announces Acquisition of Pow’r Gard Generator Corporation

Fort Smith, Arkansas -- Baldor Electric Company (NYSE:BEZ), marketer, designer, and manufacturer of electric motors and drives located in Fort Smith, Arkansas today announced that it has reached an agreement to purchase Pow'r Gard Generator Corporation in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Pow’r Gard is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of generators and generator sets.

Founded in 1965 and privately owned, Pow'r Gard has annual sales of $25 million. Their 100 employees are located in a new 120,000 sq ft facility in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Pow'r Gard manufactures and markets a variety of generators from 1.3 to 150 kW. Their product line includes portable generators for the construction and rental equipment markets, towable models for the industrial and construction markets, and standby generators for business and home use. Other markets for their generators include telecommunications, agriculture, government, and military. Pow'r Gard's customer list includes Boeing, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the FAA, IBM, and Chase Manhattan Bank.

"Generators are a natural extension of our leadership position in the industrial motor market,” commented John McFarland, Baldor’s President and CEO. "The acquisition of Pow’r Gard provides us a solid foundation on which to build in the multi-billion dollar generator market."

Pow’r Gard’s President, Tom McGuire, commented, “We are very excited to become a part of Baldor, a company twice selected as one of the best 100 companies to work for in the United States. Pow’r Gard’s products and philosophies fit well in Baldor’s strategy for growth.”

There are several growth factors driving the generator market. The importance of uninterrupted electric power is critical to many companies as they expand their business information systems, especially those with internet-based systems. Standby generators are used by these companies to protect their information networks from electric power interruptions. As the demand for electric power pushes many electric utilities to critical peak load conditions, many commercial and industrial companies are installing secondary and backup power generation capabilities themselves.

"Many of our end customers are looking for new ideas to reduce their energy needs. Baldor's Super-E premium efficient motors are the most energy efficient motors that customers can buy. Match these motors with one of our adjustable speed drives, and even greater energy savings are possible," added R. S. Boreham, Jr., Baldor's Chairman. "With the addition of generators to the Baldor family, we can now offer customers another energy solution."

The purchase of Pow’r Gard will be accretive to Baldor’s earnings in 2001. No other financial terms were disclosed. Baldor Electric Company is based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and operates 13 manufacturing plants in the United States.