Matthews International Commemorates 20th Anniversary on The NASDAQ Stock Market

PITTSBURGH, July 17, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Commemorating its 20^th anniversary of being listed as a publicly traded company, Matthews International Corporation's (Nasdaq:MATW) President and Chief Executive Officer, Joseph C. Bartolacci, together with members of the Company's Board of Directors, will ring The NASDAQ Stock Market Opening Bell today, July 17, 2014, at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City. The Company's initial public offering was on July 20, 1994. 

John Dixon Matthews founded Matthews in 1850 when he emigrated from his native Sheffield, England to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he opened a small engraving shop. A skilled engraver, Matthews set a simple goal for his small company – to become the pre-eminent provider of the highest-quality identification products and services.  His first products included military stamping dies, branding irons, ornate engravings and stamps for wooden crates.

"Deeply rooted throughout our Company's history has been our ability to evolve, grow and transform as an organization," said Mr. Bartolacci. "From the time we went public, NASDAQ has been a trusted partner and we are proud to say our consolidated sales have grown from $159 million in 1994 to $985 million in 2013." Mr. Bartolacci added, "We are also proud to say that since the founding of our Company, our values and our commitment to delivering high-quality products for our clients and customers have never changed."

Brand Solutions

The Matthews Graphics Imaging segment is one of the top five global packaging specialists and provides brand management, packaging and creative design services, artwork and pre-press services, printing tools for all printing technologies as well as varnishing and embossing tools. The Marking and Fulfillment Systems segment designs, manufactures and distributes a wide range of marking and coding products and related consumables, as well as industrial automation products and order fulfillment systems.   The Merchandising Solutions segment is an industry leader in providing value-added merchandising and printing solutions for brand owners and retailers.  

Memorialization

The Company's Cemetery Products segment manufactures and markets products in North America, Europe and Australia used primarily in the cemetery and architectural industries. The Funeral Home Products segment is a leading manufacturer and distributor of caskets and other funeral home products in North America, producing a wide variety of wood, metal and cremation caskets. The Cremation segment is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of technologically advanced crematoria equipment, as well as cremation related products and services. 

For more information on Matthews, please visit, matw.com. 

Matthews International Corporation

Matthews International Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a designer, manufacturer and marketer principally of memorialization products and brand solutions. Memorialization products consist primarily of bronze and granite memorials and other memorialization products, caskets and cremation equipment for the cemetery and funeral home industries. Brand solutions include graphics imaging products and services, marking and fulfillment systems, and merchandising solutions. The Company's products and services include cast bronze and granite memorials and other memorialization products; caskets; cast and etched architectural products; cremation equipment and cremation-related products; mausoleums; brand management; printing plates and cylinders, pre-press services and imaging services for the primary packaging and corrugated industries; marking and coding equipment and consumables, industrial automation products and order fulfillment systems for identifying, tracking, picking and conveying consumer and industrial products; and merchandising display systems and marketing and design services.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any forward-looking statements contained in this release are included pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to be materially different from management's expectations. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove correct. Factors that could cause the Company's results to differ materially from the results discussed in such forward-looking statements principally include changes in economic conditions, competitive environment, death rate, foreign currency exchange rates, risks in connection with the Company's acquisitions and technological factors beyond the Company's control.

A live webcast of the NASDAQ Opening Bell Ceremony (starting at 9:15 AM Eastern Time on July 17) will be available at: https://new.livestream.com/nasdaq/live or http://www.nasdaq.com/about/marketsitetowervideo.asx

CONTACT: Investor contact: Steven F. Nicola
         Chief Financial Officer, Secretary & Treasurer
         (412) 442-8262

         Media contact: Ann Wilson
         Director, Change Management and Communications
         (412) 995-1665

Released July 17, 2014