Flow International Merger with OMAX Corporation Clears FTC Hurdle

Flow International Corporation (Kent, WA) (Nasdaq: FLOW), the world's leading developer and manufacturer of industrial waterjet machines used for cutting and cleaning applications around the world, announced today that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accepted a consent decree with Flow which will permit the merger of Flow and OMAX Corporation.

?We are very pleased to have accomplished this critical step towards the merger of Flow and OMAX,? said Charley Brown, CEO of Flow. ?Management teams of both companies can now focus on completing the definitive merger agreement and the necessary filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The transaction is expected to close during our second fiscal quarter, which ends October 31. We remain tremendously excited about adding the strengths of the OMAX team to our own. OMAX has been singularly focused and successful in the development, marketing and servicing of its OMAX JetMachining Centers, offered for sale through the most efficient distributor channel in the industry both domestically and worldwide. As our plans unfold, customers, distributor associates and team members throughout both Flow and OMAX can look forward to dynamic growth supported by even better products and customer service. Significant elements of this growth will come from the important distribution channel that OMAX has built plus the well respected OMAX brand name and product line up.?

The consent decree provides that Flow will make available to other abrasive waterjet companies royalty-free licenses to OMAX?s U.S. Patents 5,508,596 and 5,892,345, which relate just to the controllers used in waterjet cutting systems. The licenses do not include any transfer of technology, will not cover any other patented equipment or processes owned by Flow or OMAX, do not apply to any intellectual property outside of the US, and expire in only five years.

www.flowcorp.com
www.omax.com