Uniroyal Global Engineered Products Inc. (UNIR)

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"There were two main reasons for the merger," said Uniroyal Engineered President Howard F. Curd in a telephone interview. "The geography is important to expand our footprint. Customers, especially in automotive, are getting more global."

The other main reason is that the firms' auto business, the biggest market for the combined companies, did not have much overlap.

"They sell to different OEMs and Tier 1 companies," Curd explained. "This is an opportunity to open up to new customers overseas."