Matthews International Announces Positive Ruling in Arbitration with Tesla

Arbitrator affirms Matthews’ right to continue selling its proprietary Dry Battery Electrode technology to other customers

/EIN News/ -- PITTSBURGH, Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Matthews International Corporation (Nasdaq GSM: MATW) (“Matthews” or “the Company”) today provided an update on the ongoing business dispute involving Tesla.

On February 5, 2025, an arbitrator issued a decision on an arbitration demand filed by Matthews against Tesla in January 2024. This ruling acknowledged Matthews’ extensive, pre-Tesla background in manufacturing advanced Dry Battery Electrode (“DBE”) technology and affirmed that the Company has the right to sell its solutions to customers other than Tesla. Matthews intends to immediately resume marketing, selling and delivering its DBE products to other customers in the growing electric vehicle market, where battery and automobile equipment manufacturers from around the world seek to adopt Matthews’ innovative solutions.

“This ruling confirms our rights in this groundbreaking technology and re-establishes what we have been saying for years – that we have valuable solutions to support the advancement of dry battery electrode technology,” said Joseph C. Bartolacci, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Matthews has been working in the battery space for over a decade, and we look forward to realizing the value of our DBE solutions and related intellectual property and continuing to innovate within the space.”

On November 5, 2024, Matthews was awarded U.S. Patent No. 12,136,727 B2 entitled Systems for Manufacturing a Dry Electrode, and Matthews expects this foundational work to lead to further innovations and developments to support the expanding DBE industry.

Background to the Dispute

After exhausting efforts to negotiate a resolution to a dispute with its DBE customer Tesla that arose over a year ago, Matthews was forced to seek a declaratory judgment in a binding arbitration regarding Matthews’ rights to continue selling its innovative DBE solutions to others. While this arbitration was ongoing, Tesla initiated duplicative litigation in federal court, vaguely alleging that Matthews had stolen Tesla’s trade secrets, notwithstanding its agreement to arbitrate all such disputes.

Given Tesla’s decision to file a public action against Matthews in June of 2024 and in light of the importance of the arbitrator’s ruling, Matthews is compelled to update the market on this matter.

About Matthews International Corporation

Matthews International Corporation is a global provider of industrial technologies, memorialization products and brand solutions. The Industrial Technologies segment includes the design, manufacturing, service and distribution of high-tech custom energy storage solutions; product identification and warehouse automation technologies and solutions, including order fulfillment systems for identifying, tracking, picking and conveying consumer and industrial products; and coating and converting lines for the packaging, pharma, foil, décor and tissue industries. The Memorialization segment is a leading provider of memorialization products, including memorials, caskets, cremation-related products, and cremation and incineration equipment, primarily to cemetery and funeral home customers that help families move from grief to remembrance. The SGK Brand Solutions segment is a leading provider of packaging solutions and brand experiences, helping companies simplify their marketing, amplify their brands and provide value. The Company has approximately 12,000 employees in more than 30 countries on six continents that are committed to delivering the highest quality products and services.

Forward-Looking Statements
Any forward-looking statements contained in this release are included pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies of the Company regarding the future, including statements regarding the anticipated timing and benefits of the proposed joint venture transaction, and may be identified by the use of words such as “expects,” “believes,” “intends,” “projects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “plans,” “seeks,” “forecasts,” “predicts,” “objective,” “targets,” “potential,” “outlook,” “may,” “will,” “could” or the negative of these terms, other comparable terminology and variations thereof. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company’s actual results in future periods to be materially different from management’s expectations, and no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove correct. Factors that could cause the Company’s results to differ materially from the results discussed in such forward-looking statements principally include the possibility that the terms of the final award to be issued by the Arbitrator in the Tesla dispute may differ from the terms of the interim award issued by the Arbitrator and may be challenged, our ability to satisfy the conditions precedent to the consummation of the proposed joint venture transaction on the expected timeline or at all, our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits of the proposed joint venture transaction, uncertainties regarding future actions that may be taken by Barington in furtherance of its intention to nominate director candidates for election at the Company’s 2025 Annual Meeting, potential operational disruption caused by Barington’s actions that may make it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers, employees or partners, changes in domestic or international economic conditions, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, changes in interest rates, changes in the cost of materials used in the manufacture of the Company’s products, any impairment of goodwill or intangible assets, environmental liability and limitations on the Company’s operations due to environmental laws and regulations, disruptions to certain services, such as telecommunications, network server maintenance, cloud computing or transaction processing services, provided to the Company by third-parties, changes in mortality and cremation rates, changes in product demand or pricing as a result of consolidation in the industries in which the Company operates, or other factors such as supply chain disruptions, labor shortages or labor cost increases, changes in product demand or pricing as a result of domestic or international competitive pressures, ability to achieve cost-reduction objectives, unknown risks in connection with the Company’s acquisitions and divestitures, cybersecurity concerns and costs arising with management of cybersecurity threats, effectiveness of the Company’s internal controls, compliance with domestic and foreign laws and regulations, technological factors beyond the Company’s control, impact of pandemics or similar outbreaks, or other disruptions to our industries, customers, or supply chains, the impact of global conflicts, such as the current war between Russia and Ukraine, the Company’s plans and expectations with respect to its exploration, and contemplated execution, of various strategies with respect to its portfolio of businesses, the Company’s plans and expectations with respect to its Board, and other factors described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Additional Information
In connection with the Company’s 2025 Annual Meeting, the Company has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and commenced mailing to the shareholders of record entitled to vote at the 2025 Annual Meeting a definitive proxy statement and other documents, including a WHITE proxy card. SHAREHOLDERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) FILED BY THE COMPANY AND ALL OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS WHEN FILED WITH THE SEC AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THOSE DOCUMENTS WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and other interested parties will be able to obtain the documents free of charge at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov, or from the Company at its website: http://www.matw.com/investors/sec-filings. You may also obtain copies of the Company’s definitive proxy statement and other documents, free of charge, by contacting the Company’s Investor Relations Department at Matthews International Corporation, Two NorthShore Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15212-5851, Attention: Investor Relations, telephone (412) 442-8200.

Participants in the Solicitation
The participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the 2025 Annual Meeting are the Company, Alvaro Garcia-Tunon, Gregory S. Babe, Joseph C. Bartolacci, Katherine E. Dietze, Terry L. Dunlap, Lillian D. Etzkorn, Morgan K. O’Brien, J. Michael Nauman, Aleta W. Richards, David A. Schawk, Jerry R. Whitaker, Francis S. Wlodarczyk, Steven F. Nicola and Brian D. Walters. Certain information about the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers and non-employee directors and the participants’ holdings of the Company’s Common Stock is set forth in the sections entitled “Compensation of Directors” (on page 36 and available here), “Stock Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” (on page 64 and available here), “Executive Compensation and Retirement Benefits” (on page 66 and available here), and “Appendix A” (on page A-1 and available here), respectively, in the Company’s definitive proxy statement, dated January 7, 2025, for its 2025 Annual Meeting as filed with the SEC on Schedule 14A, available here. Additional information regarding the interests of these participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the 2025 Annual Meeting and other relevant materials will be filed with the SEC when they become available. These documents are or will be available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Matthews International Corporation
Corporate Office
Two NorthShore Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15212-5851
Phone: (412) 442-8200

Contacts
Matthews International Co.
Steven F. Nicola
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary
(412) 442-8262

Collected Strategies
Dan Moore / Scott Bisang / Clayton Erwin
MATW-CS@Collectedstrategies.com