Welbilt and Halton Group Announce Strategic Alliance

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Manitowoc Foodservice, Inc. MFS (which is changing its name to Welbilt, Inc. on March 6, 2017) and Halton Group Americas have entered into a strategic alliance to facilitate the integration of Halton ventilation solutions into a wide range of Welbilt's equipment to better meet the needs of their customers.

Restaurant chain businesses play an important role in both of their futures and this alliance provides a framework to combine the best from both companies' innovation teams to develop system solutions with specific focus on the following areas:

• Increase kitchen output while reducing kitchen footprint;
• Improve speed of service and overall kitchen ergonomics;
• Better manage kitchen temperatures to improve employee comfort and maximize productivity; and
• Reduce total building energy consumption.

"We are pleased to partner with Halton as we believe that peak kitchen performance requires the integration of the cooking equipment to the ventilation systems. This integration includes the acceleration of digital technology, kitchen control systems, remote monitoring including KitchenConnect® to provide better systems and service over the equipment life cycle. The alliance also complements our fitkitchen^SM approach to develop high output kitchens in smaller footprints," said Hubertus Muehlhaeuser, President and CEO of Manitowoc Foodservice/Welbilt.

"We believe there is significant growth potential in mobile cooking globally. Partnering with Welbilt can help us expand our Mobi-Chef solution by including an electric cooking suite, complete with refrigeration and have the combined products UL Listed for rapid customer adoption," said Mika Halttunen, Chairman of Halton.

About Manitowoc Foodservice, Inc./Welbilt, Inc.

Manitowoc Foodservice, Inc./Welbilt, Inc. provides the world's top chefs and premier chain operators or growing independents with industry-leading equipment and solutions. Our innovative products and solutions are powered by our deep knowledge, operator insights, and culinary expertise. We offer fully-integrated kitchen systems and our products are backed by KitchenCare® – our aftermarket, repair, and parts service. Headquartered in the Tampa Bay area, Florida, and operating 18 manufacturing facilities throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, the company sells through a global network of over 3,000 distributors and dealers in over 100 countries. The company has approximately 5,500 employees and generated sales of $1.57 billion in 2015. Its portfolio of award-winning brands includes Cleveland™, Convotherm®, Delfield®, fitkitchen^SM, Frymaster®, Garland®, Kolpak®, Lincoln™, Manitowoc® Ice, Merco®, Merrychef® and Multiplex®. For more information, visit www.welbilt.com.

About Halton Group

Halton specializes in indoor air and indoor environment systems, services and solutions for commercial and public premises, healthcare institutions and laboratories, professional kitchens and restaurants. Halton is also one of the best known providers of ventilation and air distribution products for sea vessels and oil platforms.

The company was founded in 1969. Today, Halton has production units in ten and R&D units in eight countries. Licensed production is carried out in four countries. Halton Group employs over 1400 people in over 30 countries. The company's turnover in 2016 was over 200 million euros. www.halton.com.

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