The Care of Trees Inc. joins The Davey Tree Expert Company

Industry leading companies unite with more than 7,000 employees operating in 45 states and six Canadian provinces

KENT, Ohio - The Davey Tree Expert Company, North America's original and largest residential tree care company, has merged with The Care of Trees, Inc., one of the nation's top three premier residential/commercial tree service organizations.

Davey Tree, founded in 1880 by John Davey, provides diversified services and technical consulting to the utility industry, state and federal governments, large commercial properties, and golf and sports facilities, in addition to the residential market. In 2007, Davey had consolidated revenues of $506 million. Employee-owned since 1979, Davey is the 16th largest majority employee-owned company in the United States, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership.

The Care of Trees, based in Wheeling, Ill., has operations and facilities in Illinois, California, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. It provides tree care services for more than 60,000 residential and commercial clients. In 2007, The Care of Trees posted revenues of approximately $51 million.

Hendricksen Tree Experts was established in the 1960s by John R. Hendricksen and later became The Care of Trees as a result of the merger of Archibald Enoch Price, the Care of Trees, and Hendricksen Tree Experts in 1985. Hendricksen, prior to the merger, was the principal owner of this employee-owned business. Going forward, The Care of Trees will operate as a wholly owned Davey subsidiary.

"The Care of Trees and Davey Tree combined have nearly 170 years of experience providing advanced tree care services. We will continue to focus on service integrity as we build on the best qualities of both companies," said Karl J. Warnke, Davey president and CEO. "It's an exciting time as we unite our individual strengths for the mutual benefit of our clients and our employee owners."

Warnke added, "Our companies have many similarities. As employee-owned companies, our people are the foundation of our success. We have storied histories and similar cultures. We take pride in providing employees with the atmosphere and training they need to deliver the highest levels of performance and customer service."

"This merger gives us the chance to take the best practices of both companies across North America," said Hendricksen, chairman of The Care of Trees. "Our commitment to our employees, particularly exemplified with our Leading with Safety program, is very compatible with Davey's safety commitment to their employee owners."

This transaction is Davey's thirteenth acquisition in the past two years. It follows Davey's March 2008 acquisition of the assets of Wolf Tree Experts, Inc., a Knoxville, Tenn.,-based utility tree trimming company with 700 employees, a 13-state service area, and annualized revenues of more than $40 million.

For more information about The Care of Trees, visit www.thecareoftrees.com.