Hardide Regulatory News (HDD)

26 Oct 2007 07:01

Hardide PLC26 October 2007 Press Release 26 October 2007 Hardide plc ("Hardide" or "the Company" or "the Group") Hardide secures global gas supply agreement with BOC Hardide plc (AIM:HDD), the provider of unique surface engineering technology, ispleased to announce that it has negotiated a global supply agreement withleading gases company BOC. The agreement will ensure the security and qualityof supply of tungsten hexafluoride, the Group's most expensive and prolificallyused raw material, at a significantly reduced price. The global supply agreement will last from 1 December 2007 to 1 December 2010,with the Company possessing an option to extend the agreement by a further twoyears to 1 December 2012. The Hardide plc Board estimates the contract willsave the Group a minimum of £600,000 over the first three years. The deal, which is the result of eighteen months of negotiation and testing ofsupply, will also significantly reduce the Group's working capital requirementwhile securing continuity of supply of the exact purity of gas required at theGroup's manufacturing plants in both the UK and US. The deal also includes allfuture Hardide production facilities. BOC, a member of The Linde Group, will hold strategic stocks of tungstenhexafluoride on a five day lead time and will also supply Hardide with otherspeciality gases used in the manufacturing process at significantly reducedrates. Tungsten hexafluoride is one of the key gases used in the chemical vapourdeposition (CVD) process that produces the unique tungsten carbide-basedcomponent coating which Hardide has developed for use in high wear industriessuch as oil and gas, and aerospace. Peter Davenport, Financial Director of Hardide plc, said: "This is an excellentdeal for the Group as this contract gives us security and continuity of supplyof such a strategically critical raw material. BOC listened carefully to ourrequirements and worked hard to develop a favourable solution." Martin Teller, Sales and Marketing Manager for BOC commented: "We are delightedat working with such an innovative company as Hardide, and we look forward toserving their growing requirement for this important raw material." Ends For further information: Hardide plcJim Murray Smith, Chief Executive / Tel: +44 (0) 1869 353 830 Jackie Robinson, Head of Communicationsjmurray-smith@hardide.com www.hardide.com Seymour PierceNicola Marrin Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 8000 Media enquiries:AbchurchChris Lane / George Parker Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700chris.lane@abchurch-group.com www.abchurch-group.com Notes to editors: Hardide Coatings Hardide provides and applies tungsten carbide-based coatings to a wide range ofengineering components. The Company's patented technology is unique in that itcombines both abrasion and corrosion resistant properties in one coating. Whenapplied to components, the technology is proven to offer dramatic cost savingsthrough reduced downtime and extended component life. Customers include leadingcompanies operating in oil and gas exploration and production, valve and pumpsmanufacturing, general engineering and aerospace. BOC BOC is a member of The Linde Group. An industrial and speciality gases provider,the company supplies compressed and bulk gases, chemicals and equipment. Infiscal year 2005, BOC achieved sales of approximately €5 billion. For more than a century the company's gases and expertise have contributed toadvances in many industries and aspects of everyday life, including steelmaking,refining, chemical processing, environmental protection, wastewater treatment,welding and cutting, food processing and distribution, glass production,electronics and health care. For more information, visit BOC www.boc-gases.com. The Linde Group The Linde Group is a world leading industrial gases and engineering company with49,000 employees working in around 70 countries worldwide. Following theacquisition of The BOC Group the company has gases and engineering sales ofapproximately €12 billion. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towardsearnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international businesswith forward-looking products and services. For more information, visitwww.Linde.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange