General Bearing Abandons Sell-off Plan

General Bearing Corp. (USA, Pink Sheets: GNRL.PK) announced its board is no longer exploring or seeking strategic alternatives for the company and/or its multinational operations. In August 2005, General Bearing said it would be, "...exploring strategic alternatives to create liquidity for its shareholders." At the time, CEO David Gussack said: "In pursuit of our continuing goal of creating value for the shareholders, General Bearing is taking steps to identify strategic options including a possible sale or merger." Founded in 1958 by Seymour Gussack, the company went public via a 1977 IPO. A year ago, in March 2005, citing the high costs of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, General Bearing filed to deregister its stock from the NASDAQ and settled in the Pink Sheets. About the latest decision, President and CEO David Gussack said: "We extensively explored a number of alternatives with our investment bankers, and did not identify a viable current option which would be in the best interest of the company and all its shareholders." General Bearing recently posted results for 2005, continuing a string of exceptionally strong financial results and indicating the business is on a prolonged sales and profitability uptrend. Many analysts agree manufacturing companies in General Bearing's size and growth situation often have a difficult time achieving proper market valuation. General Bearing had been using New York - based investment bankers Jefferies & Co. as advisors. Jefferies has also been an underwriter in the IPO and follow-on offerings of RBC Bearings Inc.