Franklin Electric announced that a settlement has been reached in litigation filed by Pentair Pump Group and Sta-Rite Industries against Franklin, which challenged Franklin's recently-announced plans to distribute 4-inch submersible motor products directly to distributors in the United States and Canada as well as Franklin's announced price changes on its 4-inch motors.

Under the terms of the settlement, Pentair and Sta-Rite will continue to purchase from Franklin the majority of their 4 inch submersible electric motor requirements in the United States and Canada in the 1/3 through 2hp size ratings through December 31, 2006. Franklin has agreed, for this same time period, to continue supplying such products to Pentair Pump Group and Sta-Rite under the terms of previous arrangements as amended between the parties.

The settlement agreement contains no limitation on the sale of any other Franklin products to distributors, including assembled pump motor units sold through its newly acquired Franklin Pump Systems business unit. The pending litigation has been dismissed with prejudice in accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement. Other aspects of the settlement remain confidential.

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (Nasdaq: FELE) is a global leader in the production and marketing of groundwater and fuel pumping systems and is a technical leader in submersible motors, drives, controls, and monitoring devices.