Kirtland Capital Partners AnnouncesThe Sale of Instron Corporation

October, 2005
Beachwood, Ohio– Kirtland Capital Partners (KCP) announced the completion of the sale of its portfolio company, Instron Corporation to Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Instron was founded in 1946 and was taken private through a sale to KCP in 1999. Based in Norwood, Mass., Instron is the leading worldwide supplier of instruments, software and services for the physical testing of materials. Instron has manufacturing facilities and technical centers in 13 countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

“We are very pleased with the financial outcome of our investment in Instron,” said Tom Littman, Managing Partner of Kirtland Capital Partners. “Our partnership with the Instron management team has led to a tremendous success for Instron, its employees and KCP. We worked very hard alongside Instron’s management team to strengthen the company’s product offerings and expand its business in Asia.”

Jim Garrison, the President and CEO of Instron, said, “I have enjoyed my tenure with Instron and am very proud of the commitment, efforts and achievements of our people. We developed and pursued a strategy of growth that has enabled Instron to significantly expand its business in China and increase market share in other regions of the world. Our relationship with KCP assisted the company through difficult economic times, while staying focused on continuing to pursue its long-term strategy. This balance enabled Instron to expand geographically and continue to develop new products and services while many of our competitors retrenched.”

“Our success over the past several years is a direct result of the talents of our employees, our premier reputation and our superior products and services,” said Steve Martindale, Executive Vice President of Instron. “We are very happy with the acquisition and we believe that ITW’s ownership of Instron will be very positive for our employees and customers worldwide.”

“We are very excited to add Instron to the more than 650 diversified businesses we have worldwide,” Said Hugh Zentmyer, Executive Vice President of ITW. “We value the Instron brand name and its range of technology-leading instrumentation.”

ITW is an $11.7 billion in revenues diversified manufacturer of highly engineered components and industrial systems. The company consists of approximately 650 decentralized operations in 45 countries and employs some 49,000 people.

Kirtland Capital Partners, based in Cleveland, Ohio, is a leading private equity firm focused on equity investments in middle market niche manufacturing, distribution and business-to-business service companies. KCP has more than $400 million of capital under management from an investor group that includes both institutional and individual investors.

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