Two RUMORS floating around this area that Otis is buying Amtech, and Schindler is buying Kone. Anyone have any info? WORK SAFE ALL! Mark

-- Mark (MarkVator@comcast.net), July 31, 2003

Answers

This is taken from ELENET:

AMTECH ELEVATOR SERVICES NEWS: Eric Lazear, president of Amtech Elevator Services, recently sent a letter to all Amtech employees concerning the soon purchase of the company by Otis Elevator Co. In the letter, Lazear assured the employees, all 600-plus of them are expected to be retained by Otis when the transaction becomes final by October 31. Until then, the company will continue to do business as a subsidiary of ABM Industries, Inc. ABM Industries announced July 9 it had agreed to sell almost all of the operating assets of Amtech Elevator Services to Otis Elevator Co. for US$112 million, the amount subject to certain adjustments. The transaction is expected to be closed by October 31. ABM Industries indicated the sale of its elevator subsidiary would help raise funds for the expansion of its other businesses. The company expects the sale to result in an after-tax gain of US$1 per share.

ELENET(R) is a free e-mail newsletter transmitted biweekly by Elevator World, Inc., the publisher of ELEVATOR WORLD magazine. ELENET(R) is a registered trademark and all rights are reserved. Copyright 2003(C) Elevator World, Inc., 356 Morgan Avenue, Mobile, AL 36606, phone: (251) 479-4514, fax: (251) 479-7043, Internet: www.elevator-world.com.

-- (sales@vacontrols.com), August 01, 2003.

From the perspective of a parts supplier its getting worse for us. In the NY area we've seen numerous customers acquired by OTIS including good customers like Economy, Martin, Sterling, Alliance, Garden State and Universal. Kone has bought Staley and Garden State Metro. The net effect is that we have lost 20-30K a month in sales since all parts requisitions now go through the OSC (Otis Service Center). We anticipate that the Amtech deal will also cause a further loss of business. The core of our business has always been the independent elevator companies and we are now forced to focus our efforts on the Otis, Kone and Schindler to preserve our market share. Patrick A. Carrajat Chairman Certified Elevator & escalator Products

-- patrick a carrajat (lickem6@yahoo.com), August 01, 2003.