Kennametal announces divestiture of J&L business unit

Kennametal Inc., a tooling, engineered components, and advanced materials supplier, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement with MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. to sell its J&L Industrial Supply business for $349.5 million. The company said the disposition of this unit is in line with the continued execution of its strategy to concentrate on its core manufacturing businesses. The J&L divestiture completes the company's planned exit from owned distribution and will allow it to build new and grow existing distributor relationships, the company said.

The divestiture, which is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2006, (fourth fiscal quarter for Kennametal), remains subject to customary regulatory approval and negotiated conditions of closing.

Founded in 1941, MSC is a supplier of maintenance, repair and operations products and services. J&L Industrial Supply is a specialty metalworking distributor in North America. Its product offerings include metal cutting tools, abrasives, hand and power tools, precision measuring tools, work holding and tool holding products, machine tools, and accessories used in metal cutting operations.