Esterline Authorizes Additional $200 Million Share Repurchase

BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwired - Mar 12, 2015) - Esterline Corporation (NYSE: ESL) (www.esterline.com), a leading specialty manufacturer serving the global aerospace and defense markets, today announced that its board of directors has approved an increase to its stock repurchase program, authorizing the company to repurchase in the aggregate up to an additional $200 million of its outstanding common stock. The increase brings the company's total authorization to $400 million. The initial $200 million buyback program was announced in June 2014 and has approximately $70 million remaining for repurchases.

"This additional stock repurchase authorization reflects the board's and the management team's confidence in Esterline's long-term strategy to drive profitable growth, increase margins and improve our return on invested capital," said Curtis Reusser, Chief Executive Officer of Esterline.

The company also announced that Jerry D. Leitman and Henry W. (Jay) Winship stepped down from the company's board of directors at its most recent regular meeting, held on March 11, 2015. Mr. Leitman, who retired from the board in accordance with company policy, has been a member of Esterline's board of directors since 1998 and has recently served as the Chair of its Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee and as a member of its Compensation Committee. Mr. Winship has been a member of the board of directors since 2012 and has recently served as a member of both the Compensation Committee and Strategy & Technology Committee. 

Reusser said, "On behalf of the company and the board of directors, I'd like to thank Jay and Jerry for their contributions and service to Esterline. Their expertise and deep experience have been extremely valuable to us and our shareholders, particularly in our recent charting of a new strategic course for the company."

Winship, a Principal and Senior Managing Director at Relational Investors LLC, added, "Esterline has proven to be an excellent investment over the last five years and the company's management team and the board are well positioned to execute against their strategic plan. We have accomplished our objectives and our work with the company is an excellent example of Relational's style of collaborative and persistent engagement with our portfolio companies to create significant long-term shareholder value. I am grateful to Curtis and fellow board members for the opportunity to work with them in serving the company's shareholders."