Johnson Controls to acquire automotive electronics supplier Borg Instruments AG

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Burscheid, Germany (ots) - Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI), a global leader in automotive systems and facility management and control, today announced that it plans to acquire Borg Instruments AG, an automotive electronics company.

Borg Instruments, a privately-held company with headquarters in Remchingen, Germany, had 2002 sales of Euro 55 million associated with driver information systems and products.

John M. Barth, Johnson Controls president and chief executive officer, said "This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to offer our automotive customers world-class technology that will increase the consumer appeal, quality and value of their vehicles. For Johnson Controls, Borg Instruments will strengthen our interiors electronics capabilities as well as our technological presence in Europe, and will be the base for the development of our high-end electronic instrument clusters activities. In addition, we anticipate transferring the Borg technology to the North American and other markets.

" Borg Instrument specializes in high-end instrument clusters, reconfigurable and other information displays, center stack display modules, electronic parking assistance and its "turn-by-turn" Quo Vadis navigation system. Johnson Controls said that the two companies' electronics capabilities are very complementary.

Based on existing customer orders, Borg Instrument sales are expected to grow at over 35% a year through 2006. Its major customers include BMW, DaimlerChrysler, PSA Peugeot Citroen, General Motors/Opel, Volkswagen Group and Ford/PAG.

The purchase price was not disclosed. Johnson Controls said that it anticipates the acquisition, which is expected to close during summer 2003, to be accretive to Johnson Controls earnings in fiscal 2004. The completion of the acquisition is contingent upon receiving customary regulatory approvals.

Borg Instrument has 400 employees, including 120 research and development engineers, and two manufacturing plants in Remchingen and St. Georgen, Germany. The majority owner of the company is Borg Luxembourg S.A.

The company has made forward-looking statements in this document that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include information concerning possible or assumed future risks and may include words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates" or similar expressions. For those statements, the company cautions that numerous important factors, including the completion of the Borg Instrument acquisition, customer orders, industry vehicle production levels, US dollar exchange rates and those discussed in the company's Form 8-K (dated November 12, 2002), could affect the company's actual results and could cause its actual consolidated results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by, or on behalf of, the company.

Johnson Controls, Inc. is a global market leader in automotive systems and facility management and control. In the automotive market, it is a leading supplier of seating and interior systems and batteries. For non-residential facilities, Johnson Controls provides building control components and systems and facility management services.

Johnson Controls (New York Stock Exchange: JCI), founded in 1885, has its headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The European headquarters is in Burscheid, Germany. Its sales for 2002 totaled 20.1 billion US-Dollars, the Automotive Systems Group alone accounting for 15 billion US-Dollars of this figure. In the current "Industry Week" business magazine rankings, Johnson Controls has been listed as one of the top 100 best run companies in the world for the fifth time in succession.