The acquisition includes four plants — one in Spain, one in the United States and two in
Italy — sites that generated 110 million euros (US$147.1 million) in net sales in 2006 and employed
400 people.

The deal comes on the heels of Ahlstrom’s acquisition of Italy-based Fabriano Filter Media
S.p.A. and the Italy-based Orlandi Group’s spunlace nonwovens business earlier this year. The
company also announced last year that it will invest in a new wiping fabrics production line in
Brazil that will be operational early next year.

The new gateway, part of the company’s strategic development plan for Mexico’s Southeastern
Region, provides US and Mexican businesses with a facility for the transshipment of goods across
the US-Mexico border. It has been authorized by the Mexican government to operate as a customs
facility for consolidation of area imports and exports.

Conference organizers include Kumaraguru College and the Institute of Environmental and
Human Health, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. The conference will present advances in areas
such as natural and man-made fibers, polymer and fiber production, general textiles, textile
machinery, dyeing and finishing, textile testing, nanotechnology, smart textiles, nonwovens and
technical textiles.

Rieter Textile Systems saw positive momentum through the year in all staple fiber
activities, with particularly strong demand in Asian countries including most notably India, Turkey
and China. Although the division lost about 48.5 million Swiss francs (US$40 million) as a result
of the divestment of its man-made fiber operations during the year, it realized an overall increase
in orders of 46 percent to 1,724.3 million Swiss francs (US$1,421.1 million) and in sales of 29
percent to 1,400.7 million Swiss francs (US$1,154.3 million). The operating result for the year
rose by 84 percent to 148.2 million Swiss francs (US$122.1 million), equal to 11.1 percent of
corporate output. Earnings before interest and taxes totaled 92.7 million Swiss francs (US$76.4
million).

The new winders may also be combined with the VantageSlitter to cut daughter reels to
measure up to diameters of 2,200 millimeters at rates of up to 1,500 meters per minute.

In other news, Poland’s largest nonwovens producer, Lentex, has placed an order with NSC
nonwoven for its second spunlace line. The new line, scheduled for start up by the end of this
year, will be used to produce filtration and automotive products, among other technical
applications.

The order, led by NSC’s Asselin-Thibeau unit includes Rieter Perfojet spunlacing equipment,
NSC’s ProDyn® technology and BattCruise system, a new system placed immediately after the Asselin®
crosslapper that enables light, nonwoven fabrics to be produced at continuous linear speeds with
even overlaps and straight edges, thus increasing evenness, crosslapping quality and productivity,
according to the company.

Defender M was designed to provide durability, comfort and outstanding burn protection at
lower cost than competitive products. TenCate expects the military market for FR fabrics to
increase substantially because combat soldiers don’t currently wear FR garments.

The company also will move its corporate offices from its knitting plant in Montreal to
leased facilities in the Montreal area.