LUFK Lufkin Industries, Inc. (MM)

LUFKIN, Texas, June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lufkin Industries, Inc. announced today the official opening of its new manufacturing facility near Ploiesti, Romania, north of the capital, Bucharest.

The new facility includes a state of the art manufacturing plant as well as a modern aftermarket and re-manufacturing facility. It is currently staffed with 260 skilled local personnel, and is expected to reach 350 employees by year end. The facility's primary purpose is to manufacture Lufkin's Beam Pumping Units, with the ability to produce over 1,100 units per year. In addition, the facility will service and support the sale of all Lufkin products in the Eastern Hemisphere. Approximately 90% of the production at this facility is expected to be for export to end markets in more than 20 countries.

Jay Glick, CEO and President, stated, "This is a landmark day for Lufkin. This new facility is a critical step in our strategy to expand our geographic reach to better serve our global customers. We anticipate that the Romanian operation will serve as a strategic hub for our Eastern Hemisphere markets. This facility should allow us to secure new customers and take advantage of the increasing use of artificial lift for oil and gas wells.

"I'd like to thank the people of Romania and the Romanian Government for welcoming Lufkin into their country and for providing meaningful support in making this facility a reality. We look forward to a long-term partnership in which Lufkin could potentially employ hundreds of Romanian citizens and benefit from the country's vast natural resources and emerging position as a regional energy hub."

This facility was built on an 82 acre site with an estimated cost of US$140 million. The Government of Romania, through the Ministry of Public Finance, provided Lufkin with economic development incentives and financial assistance of 28 million Euros towards the construction costs.

Lufkin Industries, Inc. sells and services oilfield pumping units, well automation systems, gas lift and plunger lift systems, progressive cavity pumps, well completion products, foundry castings and power transmission products throughout the world. Lufkin has vertically integrated all vital technologies required to design, manufacture and market its products.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and are based on the beliefs and assumptions of our management, based on information currently available to our management. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of the future tense or other forward-looking words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "should," "may," "objective," "projection," "forecast," "management believes," "continue," "strategy," "position" or the negative of those terms or other variations of them or by comparable terminology. In particular, statements, express or implied, regarding our anticipated use of the Romanian operations and the expected benefits thereof are forward-looking statements.

Although we believe that these estimates and forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, they are subject to risks and uncertainties and are made in light of information currently available to us. Many factors may cause actual results to differ from those projected in our forward-looking statements, including a change in our over-arching business strategy or, assuming the closing of the previously announced merger with General Electric Company ("GE") occurs, GE's business strategy.