RALSTON PURINA WILL BUY GOLDEN CAT

Ralston Purina Company announced last weekend that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Golden Cat Corporation, the leading manufacturer and marketer of branded cat box filler in the U.S. and Canada.

The transaction is subject to normal government review. Closing is expected in mid-to-late April. Terms were not discussed.

Golden Cat Corporation, with headquarters in South Bend, Ind., reports sales of approximately $200 million for fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 1994. Golden Cat brands include Tidy Cat, Kitty Litter, Maxx and Scamp.

The company has a special cat center at Cape Girardeau, where litter is tested. The Cape "Cattery" holds more than 40 cats.

Golden Cat also has a cat litter manufacturing plant at Olmsted, Ill., which employs more than 100 workers and produces about 180,000 tons of cat litter a year.

In an announcement released by the U.S. Department of Labor-Public Affairs, Ralston projects the acquisition will have a slightly positive impact on first-year earnings, after interest and goodwill expense, and expects earning contributions to increase in future years.

Ralston Purina Pet Products president and chief executive officer, W. Patrick McGinnis, said of the purchase agreement, "the combination of Golden Cat's leading brand names and strong distribution across all retail channels will be an excellent strategic addition to Ralson's leading position in pet foods."

Ralston Purina Pet Products, a division of Ralston Purina Company, is the world's largest producer of dry dog and dry and soft-moist cat foods, which are marketed under the Purina brand name.

Golden Cat company here was originally Edward Lowe Industry Inc., which manufactured Kitty Litter and Tidy Cat.

Lowe founded his company in 1947, and molded it into an operation which became nationally known. The Lowe Company, with operations at Cape Girardeau, Bloomfield and Oran in Southeast Missouri and at Olmsted in Southern Illinois, employed more than 700 people when it sold to Golden Cat in 1990.

When Lowe introduced a new absorbent cat-box filler in 1947, it marked the introduction of a new industry. Kitty Litter, the primary Lowe product, has dominated the cat box filler market for more than 40 years. Lowe headquartered his business in Cassopolis, Mich.