Goodrich Corporation (Charlotte, North Carolina, formerly BF Goodrich) is completing its previously announced spinoff of the Engineered Industrial Products business segment. Goodrich will focus entirely on the aerospace industry.

The new company, named EnPro Industries, Inc., will launch June 1, 2002 and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker NPO.

"EnPro is an industry leader in sealing products, metal polymer bearings and compressor systems, as well as a manufacturer of other engineered products for a variety of critical applications in industrial markets," said CEO Ernest Schaub.

The bearing component of EnPro is Glacier Garlock Bearings. It is made up of Garlock and the Glacier Industrial Bearing Division, acquired from Dana in May 2001. Glacier was rolled under Goodrich's Garlock self-lubricated polymer bearings business and renamed Glacier Garlock Bearings.

Glacier Garlock Bearings has annual sales of approximately $150 million. Goodrich also acquired Dana's minority interest in a venture which manufactures metal-backed polymer bearings.

Other division brands involved in the EnPro spinoff are Quincy, Stemco and Fairbanks-Morse. Annual sales should be in the neighborhood of $800 million and employment reach 5,000.

Mr. Schaub said, "We enjoy strong, recognizable brands, superior product reliability and an excellent distribution network. We look forward to building on these strengths as a new, independent company."

The spinoff also accomplishes another unstated but extremely important result for Goodrich. EnPro, as a separate business, insulates Goodrich from the enormous and growing problem of asbestos liability. Asbestos litigation and claims have bankrupt many other companies; Federal-Mogul, for example, was forced to seek bankruptcy protection when asbestos claims outstripped the company's insurance and ability to pay.

In the case of Goodrich, the asbestos claims come in through Garlock Bearings and a now-defunct packaging operation

The spinoff may also mean at least a temporary end to Glacier's hot-potato status. Glacier has bounced through five owners in four years, from T&N to Federal-Mogul to Dana to Goodrich and now to EnPro.