Ensign-Bickford Industries, Inc. Acquires DanChem Technologies, Inc.

(Simsbury, CT, June 1, 2008) As part of its business growth and diversification strategy, Ensign-Bickford Industries, Inc. “EBI” announced today that its affiliate, EBChem Holdings, Inc. has acquired DanChem Technologies, Inc.  DanChem is a Danville, Virginia-based manufacturer of speciality chemicals and plastics.  The terms of the transaction between EBI and American Capital Strategies, the previous owner of DanChem, were not released.

EBI is a privately held company that, through its subsidiaries, provides ordnance products to the aerospace and military markets, pet food products to commercial customers, and residential and commercial real estate services.

Caleb White, Chief Executive Officer of EBI said, “The combination of EBI’s patient capital, long history of manufacturing excellence and strong customer focus, coupled with the outstanding talent we see in the DanChem team, makes this a very strong platform for profitable growth.  The EBI family is excited about entering into the specialty chemical area with an industry player that has such a strong reputation for safety, quality and service and is one of the top companies in the United States custom chemical manufacturing business.” 

DanChem boasts decades of experience in process design, batch manufacturing and working with customers to bring a product to industrial reality in a cost-effective and timely manner.

The name of the company will continue as DanChem Technologies, Inc.  DanChem was formerly known as Hickson-DanChem (1990 – 2002), and was previously the Research & Chemical Division of Dan River Fabrics (1960 – 1990).  The site has been in continuous operation since 1960, employs about 120 people on a 55-acre site bordering the city of Danville and Pittsylvania County in southwestern Virginia.  More information about EBI is available on its website at www.e-bind.com.  More information about DanChem Technologies, Inc. can be found at www.danchem.com.