The FDS Group Announces Acquisition of Canadian Company, AGS Group, Inc.

PARIS, January 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The FDS Group has announced today that is has acquired AGS Group, Inc., (AGS), a leading supplier of gaskets, fasteners, pipe supports and instrumentation to the Canadian market. Established in 1979 and with locations in Edmonton, Calgary, Sarnia, Grand Prairie and Red Deer, AGS has built a solid reputation for leading edge sealing solutions and technologies to support the oil and gas industries in Alberta and throughout Canada.

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"AGS offers great synergies to further our mission of improving industrial processes and safety of operations in diverse industrial sectors," says Remi Toledano, Global CEO of the FDS Group (http://www.fdsgroup.net).  AGS joins the strategically positioned FDS Group of industrial sealing companies; Flexitallic®, SIEM, Novus, Induseal, and Sealex.  FDS Group is a global leader in specialized sealing solutions and products serving oil and gas industries, power generation, chemical and petrochemical industries in emerging and developed markets throughout the world. The FDS group has owned manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Germany and China and an extensive network of licensed manufacturers throughout the world.

AGS has been the exclusive manufacturing licensee and distributor for Flexitallic in Canada since 2002, providing advanced manufacturing, sales and engineering support to the oil and gas market.  AGS' unique state-of-the-art manufacturing and specialized laser fabrication facilities provide gasket solutions for some of the most demanding environments and applications. "Bringing AGS into the FDS family of companies is really a natural fit," says Jerry Lastovica, CEO of Flexitallic LP. "AGS has a successful history and is a trusted partner to Flexitallic (http://www.flexitallic.com). We look to build upon AGS's expertise and customer service reputation to upstream oil and gas operations and supporting markets and customers." Lastovica will have responsibility for the new acquisition to ensure a seamless transition.

"We are excited to add AGS to our portfolio," adds Toledano. "This acquisition offers significant growth and value that will benefit the FDS Group family of customers around the world."

The acquisition of AGS, now renamed AGS Flexitallic, is the next step in FDS Group's expansion strategy, following the acquisition of Sealex in the United Kingdom in August 2011. Within AGS Flexitallic, FDS Group employs over 900 employees and targets a total sales in 2012 of $190 million USD (euro 150 M).

About FDS Group

The FDS Group is made up of industrial sealing companies, Flexitallic, SIEM, Novus, Induseal and Sealex. All members of the FDS Group take part on a daily basis in the improvement of industrial processes and safety of operations in diverse sectors such as oil production, oil refining, petrochemical and energy.

Established in 2004. For more information, visit http://www.fdsgroup.net.

About Flexitallic

The Flexitallic Group is an international market leader in the manufacture and global supplier of high quality, high value industrial static sealing products. Formed in 1912, Flexitallic maintains a major market positions in sealing devices used throughout the world, most notably in the oil and gas industry's upstream and downstream operations. Flexitallic has manufacturing locations in 15 countries and over 600-stocking distributors worldwide.

For more information, visit http://www.flexitallic.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact: Nancy Battles, Bush Communications, USA +1-585-244-0270