HB Hillenbrand Ind

BATESVILLE, Ind., March 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Batesville Holdings, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hillenbrand Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HB), representing the present Batesville Casket Company's funeral services division, today announced the appointment of Doug Wilson as Senior Vice President Human Resources. He will assume all responsibilities for developing and leading the human resources function for the new stand alone public company. Batesville Holdings, Inc., will be officially renamed Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI), on March 31, 2008 after the official separation of Hillenbrand Industries' funeral services and medical technologies businesses. Wilson brings nearly 27 years of public company human resources management experience to the new Hillenbrand, Inc. Most recently, he served as Vice President Worldwide Merger Integration for Boston Scientific Corporation. He was named to this role at the close of the merger between Boston Scientific and Guidant Corporation in 2006. Prior to the merger, he served as Guidant's Vice President Human Resources and Chief People Officer. Before joining Guidant, Wilson was a principal and president of Ronald Blue & Co., a privately held firm providing financial planning, investment management, tax planning and philanthropic counsel. Wilson began his career with Eli Lilly and Company, where he spent 20 years in a variety of increasingly senior executive human resources roles spanning multiple business and global geographic units. Wilson holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts from Ball State University. He is also a graduate of the Babson College Consortium for Executive Development, Wellesley, Mass. "Doug is a seasoned human resource executive with broad experience and breadth of vision, and he will be an important part of our future growth strategy," said Kenneth A. Camp, president and chief executive officer of Batesville Casket Company. "Doug's talent and abilities will help us complete the separation and will be pivotal in the development of effective and creative programs that will further build organizational excellence as we move forward as a new publicly traded company." "What impressed me most about the new Hillenbrand, Inc. is its ambition to continue to be a truly great employer. I'm excited to be a part of a company that values the contributions of its employees and is committed to investing in its workforce as it continues to grow. I'm also proud to join such an experienced and talented management team at this important juncture in the company's history and to help set the future direction of the company," Wilson said. ABOUT HILLENBRAND INDUSTRIES, INC. Hillenbrand Industries is organized into two operating companies serving the health care and funeral services industries. Hill-Rom is a leading worldwide manufacturer and provider of medical technologies and related services for the health care industry, including patient support systems, non-invasive therapeutic products for a variety of acute and chronic medical conditions, medical equipment rentals, and information technology solutions. Hill-Rom's comprehensive product and service offerings are used by health care providers across the health care continuum in hospitals, extended care facilities and home care settings to enhance the safety and quality of patient care. Hill-Rom ... enhancing outcomes for patients and their caregivers. Batesville Casket Company is a leader in the North American death care industry through the sale of funeral services products, including burial caskets, cremation caskets, containers and urns, selection room display fixturing and other personalization and memorialization products. Batesville Casket Company ... helping families honor the lives of those they love. Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company's future plans, objectives, beliefs, expectations, representations and projections. The Company has tried, wherever possible, to identify these forward-looking statements using words such as "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "encourage," "expect," "may," "goal," "become," "pursue," "estimate," "strategy," "will," "projection," "forecast," "continue," "accelerate," "promise," "increase," "higher," "lower," "reduce," "improve," "expand," "progress," "potential" or the negative of those terms or other variations of them or by comparable terminology. The absence of such terms, however, does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. It is important to note that forward- looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those set forth in any forward- looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: the Company's dependence on its relationships with several large national providers and group purchasing organizations, changes in death rates, whether the Company's new products are successful in the marketplace, changes in customers' Medicare reimbursements, collections of accounts receivable, compliance with FDA regulations, antitrust litigation, potential exposure to product liability or other claims, failure of the Company's announced strategic initiatives and restructuring and realignment activities to achieve expected growth, efficiencies or cost reductions, disruptions in the Company's business or other adverse consequences resulting from the planned separation of the Company's two operating companies, failure of the Company to execute its acquisition and business alliance strategy through the consummation and successful integration of acquisitions or entry into joint ventures or other business alliances, competition from nontraditional sources in the funeral services business, volatility of the Company's investment portfolio, increased costs or unavailability of raw materials, labor disruptions, the ability to retain executive officers and other key personnel, and certain tax-related matters. For a more in depth discussion of these and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, see the discussions under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended September 30, 2007 and in Amendment 1 to the Batesville Holdings, Inc., Form 10. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: Hillenbrand Industries, Inc. CONTACT: Investor Relations, Blair A. (Andy) Rieth, Jr., Vice President, Investor Relations, Corporate Communications & Global Brand Development, +1-812-931-2199, , Investor Relations Batesville Holdings, Inc., Mark. R Lanning, Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasurer, +1-812-934-7256, , Media Contact, Lauren Green-Caldwell, Director, Corporate Communications & Public Relations, +1-812-934-8692, Web site: http://www.hillenbrand.com/

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