Investors

CLEVELAND, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oglebay Norton Company (Nasdaq: OGLE) today announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Erie Sand & Gravel Co., located in Erie, PA. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Erie Sand & Gravel Company operates a dock, a Great Lakes Flag vessel, a readymix concrete facility and a trucking company that distributes construction sand and aggregates in the northwest Pennsylvania/western New York region. Erie Sand & Gravel Company will be accounted for as part of Oglebay Norton's Great Lakes Minerals segment.

Michael D. Lundin, Oglebay Norton Company president and chief executive officer said, "We are excited to add Erie Sand & Gravel to our Great Lakes Minerals segment's portfolio of docks and distribution centers. We now have a foothold in northwestern Pennsylvania from which we can expand our Great Lakes strategy and strengthen our leadership position on the Lakes."

Sidney E. (Sandy) Smith, III, Oglebay Norton Company vice president and general manager of Erie Sand & Gravel Company, added, "We are looking forward to contributing to the continued success of Oglebay Norton Company. As part of the Oglebay Norton family, we can now make available an expanded range of products and service customers more efficiently."

Oglebay Norton Company, a Cleveland, Ohio-based company, provides essential minerals and aggregates to a broad range of markets, from building materials and home improvement to the environmental, energy and metallurgical industries. Building on a 149-year heritage, our vision is to become the best company in the industrial minerals industry. The company's website is located at www.oglebaynorton.com .

Certain statements contained in this release are "forward-looking" in that they reflect management's expectations and beliefs regarding the future performance of the Company and its operating segments. Forward-looking statements are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of the Company, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Weather, particularly in the Great Lakes region, water levels, energy, fuel and oil prices, steel production, changes in the demand for the company's products due to changes in technology, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic construction activity, the California economy and population growth rates in the Southwestern United States, the outcome of negotiations of labor agreements, the loss or bankruptcy of major customers or insurers, changes in environmental law, and changes in asbestos or silica product liability litigation filed in the United States and determinations by a court or jury against the Company's interest all can impact revenues and earnings. Some of our customers have filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. We do not expect that these reorganizations will have a material impact on the company's financial condition, although, depending on the outcome, there may be an impact on the company's earnings in the near-term. Please refer to the Company's current and subsequent SEC filings under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for further information.

SOURCE Oglebay Norton Company