Note 1.   Nature of Operations

Matthews International Corporation ("Matthews" or the "Company"), founded in 1850 and incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1902, is a provider principally of brand solutions, memorialization products and industrial products.   Brand solutions include brand development, deployment and delivery (consisting of brand management, printing plates and cylinders, pre-media services and imaging services for consumer packaged goods and retail customers, merchandising display systems, and marketing and design services).  Memorialization products consist primarily of bronze and granite memorials and other memorialization products, caskets and cremation equipment for the cemetery and funeral home industries.  Industrial products include marking and coding equipment and consumables, industrial automation products and order fulfillment systems for identifying, tracking, picking and conveying consumer and industrial products.

The Company has manufacturing and marketing facilities in the United States, Central and South America, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia.