John Bean Technologies Corporation

Good morning and welcome to JBT Corporation's first quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Marvilou and I will be your conference operator today. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. At this time, all lines have been placed on you to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. I will now turn the call over to JVP's Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Kedrick Meredith, to begin today's conference. Kedrick, you may begin.

Thank you, Marvalou. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter 2024 conference call. With me on the call is our Chief Executive Officer, Brian Deck, and Chief Financial Officer, Matt Meister. In today's call, we will use forward-looking statements that are subject to the Safe Harbor language in yesterday's press release and 8K filing. JVT's periodic SEC filings also contain information regarding risk factors that may have an impact on our results. These documents are available in the investor relations section of our website. Also, our discussion today includes references to certain non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable gap measure can be found in the investor relations section of our website. Now I'll turn the call over to Brian.

Thanks, Gedrick, and good morning, everyone. JBT's first quarter, our seasonally lightest period, came in largely as expected. Consistent with previously outlined commentary, we continued to capture margin expansion with a 60 basis point increase in adjusted EBITDA margins compared with the prior year period. As announced on our April 5th press release, we signed a definitive transaction agreement with Morrell. The agreement, which was approved by both companies' board of directors, reflects extensive collaboration between the teams. Based on our diligence, it confirms our belief in the industrial logic of the combination and value creation opportunities for customers, shareholders, and other stakeholders. The agreement also represents a significant step forward in anticipation of the submittal of a voluntary takeover offer. With that, I'll turn the call over to Matt, who will walk you through our first quarter performance. Then I'll speak about the anticipated recovery in the poultry market and provide greater detail about the progress we've made on the proposed merger with Murrah.