Award-Winning Brands Strengthen Lifetime’s Market-Leading Position in Kitchenware

GARDEN CITY, N.Y., Sept. 16, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NasdaqGS:LCUT), a leading global provider of branded kitchenware, tableware and other products used in the home, today announced it has completed the acquisition of the Kitchen Division of Focus Products Group. The division sells a wide variety of kitchenware and bakeware products under the Amco Houseworks®, Chicago™ Metallic and Swing-A-Way® brands.

Lifetime’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Siegel commented, “We are excited to expand our portfolio of brands with three distinguished names that complement our market-leading kitchenware and bakeware businesses. This acquisition meets our criteria of well-known and longstanding brands; premium positioning in the marketplace; established relationships with blue-chip customers; and significant opportunities for growth.

“Chicago™ Metallic has been a leader in upper-end bakeware for more than 100 years, building an exceptional reputation as ‘The Baking Experts’ through innovative, high-quality products. Amco Houseworks®, whose signature stainless steel tools and gadgets are sold through gourmet and specialty stores nationwide and online, has been an award-winning brand since the 1970s. Swing-A-Way® has been a leading brand of can openers for over 50 years with over 200 million units sold since the company’s founding in 1954.”

Mr. Siegel concluded, “These three brands fit perfectly into our platform and we have the resources to quickly enhance their performance. Since they are in categories where Lifetime is already established, we expect the acquisition to provide immediate gross margin dollars without an accompanying increase in SG&A.”

The acquisition is expected to be accretive to the Company’s diluted earnings per share in 2016. Terms of the acquisition were not announced.

Forward-Looking Statements
In this press release, the use of the words “believe,” "could," "expect," "may," "positioned," "project," "projected," "should," "will," "would" or similar expressions is intended to identify forward-looking statements that represent the Company’s current judgment about possible future events. The Company believes these judgments are reasonable, but these statements are not guarantees of any events or financial results, and actual results may differ materially due to a variety of important factors. Such factors might include, among others, the Company’s ability to comply with the requirements of its credit agreements; the availability of funding under such credit agreements; the Company’s ability to maintain adequate liquidity and financing sources and an appropriate level of debt; changes in general economic conditions which could affect customer payment practices or consumer spending; the impact of changes in general economic conditions on the Company’s customers; changes in demand for the Company’s products; shortages of and price volatility for certain commodities; significant changes in the competitive environment and the effect of competition on the Company’s markets, including on the Company’s pricing policies, financing sources and an appropriate level of debt.

Lifetime Brands, Inc.
Lifetime Brands is a leading global provider of kitchenware, tableware and other products used in the home. The Company markets its products under well-known kitchenware brands, including Farberware®, KitchenAid®, Sabatier®, Amco Houseworks®, Chicago™ Metallic, Fred® & Friends, Kitchen Craft®, Kamenstein®, Kizmos™, La Cafetière®, Misto®, Mossy Oak®, Reo®, Savora™, Swing-A-Way® and Vasconia®; respected tableware and giftware brands, including Mikasa®, Pfaltzgraff®, Creative Tops®, Empire Silver™, Gorham®, International® Silver, Kirk Stieff®, Towle® Silversmiths, Tuttle®, Wallace®, Wilton Armetale®, V&A® and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew®; and valued home solutions brands, including Bombay®, BUILT NY®, Debbie Meyer® and Design for Living™. The Company also provides exclusive private label products to leading retailers worldwide.

The Company’s corporate website is www.lifetimebrands.com.