Exhibit
99.1
September
21,
2005
Steven F.
Nicola
CFO,
Secretary & Treasurer
412:442-8262
MATTHEWS
INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
REPORTS
THE POSSIBLE CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP OF ITS LARGEST INDEPENDENT CASKET
DISTRIBUTOR
PITTSBURGH,
PA, September 21, 2005 -- Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ
NMS:
MATW) reported that Hillenbrand Industries, Inc. today announced that Batesville
Casket Company has signed a definitive agreement with the shareholders of
Yorktowne Caskets, Inc. (“Yorktowne”) to acquire all the outstanding stock of
Yorktowne. Yorktowne is currently under agreement as a distributor of caskets
for The York Group, Inc. (“York”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Matthews
International Corporation (“Matthews”). Yorktowne is presently York’s largest
independent distributor of its caskets.
Under the
distribution agreement, which is in effect until at least April 2007, Yorktowne
is required to purchase all of its requirements for wood and metal caskets from
York, with minimum annual purchase requirements. The distribution agreement also
contains non-assignment and right of first refusal provisions.
Matthews
International Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a
designer, manufacturer and marketer principally of memorialization products and
brand solutions. Memorialization products consist primarily of bronze memorials
and memorialization products, caskets and cremation equipment for the cemetery
and funeral home industries. Brand solutions include graphics imaging products
and services, merchandising solutions, and marking products. The Company’s
products and services include cast bronze memorials and other memorialization
products; caskets; cast and etched architectural products; cremation equipment
and cremation-related products; mausoleums; printing plates, pre-press services,
and imaging systems for the corrugated and primary packaging industries; marking
equipment and consumables for identifying various consumer and industrial
products, components and containers; and merchandising display systems and
marketing and design services.
Any
forward-looking statements contained in this release are included pursuant to
the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties that may cause the Company’s actual results in future periods to
be materially different from management’s expectations. Although the Company
believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove correct.
Factors that could cause the Company’s results to differ materially from the
results discussed in such forward-looking statements principally include
economic, competitive, and technological factors beyond the Company’s
control.