Avery Dennison to Purchase Stimsonite

Avery Dennison Corp., the world’s leading maker of self-adhesive labels, agreed to buy highway safety products maker Stimsonite Corp. for about $137 million in cash. Avery Dennison will pay $14.75 a share for the Niles, Ill.-based company, a 40% premium over Stimsonite’s Thursday stock price. Stimsonite, which had 1998 sales of $87.4 million, makes raised reflective road markers, work-zone markers and optical-film products used in highway signs. Avery Dennison will use the purchase to bulk up its reflective films business, now a small part of its revenue, an analyst said. Pasadena-based Avery Dennison had 1998 sales of $3.46 billion. Stimsonite shares jumped $4 to close at $14.50 on Nasdaq, while Avery Dennison closed up 88 cents at $62.88 on the NYSE.