SKF yesterday announced the sale of SKF Bearing Supplies Pty Ltd. and the distributor arm of SKF New Zealand Ltd. (collectively SKF Distribution) in Australia and New Zealand to US-based Applied Industrial Technologies. The transaction is expected to be completed by July 1, 2012.

"This divestiture is in line with SKF's global go-to-market approach to utilize independent channel partners, which are SKF authorized distributors," says Vartan Vartanian, President SKF Industrial Market, Regional Sales and Service. "This step allows SKF to put even more focus on being the Knowledge Engineering Company and a world leader in the products, services and solutions we provide our customers and to combine this with the expertise Applied brings to the distribution market."

"Using professional channel partners like Applied will benefit our customers in Australia and New Zealand because they will get access to a complimentary product portfolio. For nearly ninety years, SKF and Applied have worked together in North America to meet customer demands and we are committed to continue that cooperation with Applied here in Australia to make sure our customers get real benefits from this new partnership," says Tony Doodson, Managing Director SKF Australia.

SKF will continue to invest in Australia. On May 1, a Solution Factory, which brings together all SKF technologies in a unique way to share SKF knowledge with customers, will be opened in Perth.

Gothenburg, 25 April 2012

Aktiebolaget SKF

(publ)

For further information, please contact:

PRESS: Rebecca Janzon, Global Press Manager,
tel: +46 31 337 2400, mobile: +46 727-173880, e-mail: rebecca.janzon@skf.com

INVESTOR RELATIONS: Marita Björk, Head of Investor Relations
tel: +46 31-337 1994, mobile: +46 705-181994, e-mail: marita.bjork@skf.com

About SKF
SKF is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 15,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2011 were SEK 66,216 million and the number of employees was 46,039.

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