Hardinge Comments On Romi’s Tender Offer Extension

Hardinge Inc. (NASDAQ: HDNG) today issued the following statement regarding Indústrias Romi S.A.’s (Bovespa: ROMI3) (“Romi”) tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Hardinge:

“Hardinge’s Board of Directors remains unanimous in its belief that Romi’s hostile low-ball bid is an opportunistic attempt to transfer the value of Hardinge to Romi at a highly inadequate price and is not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders. With its extension for a second consecutive time of its 'best and final' $10.00 per share offer, even though the number of shares tendered remains well below the 66.6% minimum condition that Romi requires, it is clear that Romi is not serious about a transaction that does anything but secure for itself upside that rightly belongs to Hardinge shareholders. Furthermore, Hardinge believes that tendering into a highly conditional tender offer that has no prospect of closing is not meaningful and does not indicate that even the minority of shareholders who tendered actually support a transaction at $10.00. Our Board has been clear all along about our views on Hardinge’s valuation and prospects, but Romi has given no indication of any willingness to offer a full and fair price.

“The Board continues to believe the ongoing implementation of Hardinge’s strategic plan will deliver greater value to our shareholders. Hardinge is well-positioned to participate in the upswing as the global economy continues to improve. The industrial sector and the machine tool industry are beginning to see signs of the recovery, as evidenced by our own strong order rates and improved outlook. With our streamlined operating structure, increased cash flow generation, permanent cost reductions and balance sheet strength, we are poised to outperform our peers as the market continues to improve. The strong order flow we are seeing further reinforces our view of Hardinge's bright prospects based on the strength of our business and our industry leading reputation in the global marketplace. We will continue to act in the best interests of Hardinge shareholders by reiterating our recommendation against Romi’s ‘best and final’ offer of $10.00 per share, and executing our strategic plan to create long-term value that rightly belongs to our shareholders.”