Intermet Signs Agreement to Purchase Aluminum Caster

3 December 1998

    TROY, Mich., Dec. 2 -- Intermet Corporation
today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Quadion
Corporation for the purchase of its Tool Products Division.  Tool Products is
a North American manufacturer of precision engineered, close-tolerance,
aluminum die castings.  Sales for their fiscal year 1998 ending September 30
were $67 million.
    Tool Products is recognized as a leading supplier of aluminum die castings
for the automotive electronics industry.  The company also manufactures for
other broad applications in the motor vehicle, electronics, communications,
power tool and recreation industries.
    Tool Products, headquartered in New Hope, Minnesota (suburb of
Minneapolis), operates two manufacturing facilities located in New Hope and
Jackson, Tennessee.  In 1999, Tool Products will open a new operation in
Mexico.
    Intermet Chairman and CEO, John Doddridge, said, "It is Intermet's
fundamental strategy to offer metal castings in multiple materials, so
logically we have been looking for opportunities to grow our aluminum casting
business to complement our iron casting business.  Tool Products has
significant growth potential, with future business awards already secured.  It
is an excellent company and has very good management -- something we always
look for in an acquisition.  As a QS-9000 certified manufacturer, Tool
Products is a world-class die cast operation.  Its disciplined approach to
cost control and profitability is very similar to that of Intermet, and we are
pleased with this accretive transaction."
    Tool Products 1998 revenues were 60% automotive and 40% industrial.  Its
manufacturing facilities are strategically positioned to effectively serve a
broad national customer base, which includes Ford Motor Company, Motorola,
Delco, Denso, Eaton, Allied Signal, Robert Bosch, Harley Davidson, Milwaukee
Electric and Dell Computers.
    This acquisition brings to Intermet recognized aluminum engineering and
die casting capability as Intermet further expands its aluminum castings
capabilities.  Intermet currently owns and operates two aluminum plants in
addition to its 13 iron foundries and machining plants.
    Piper Jaffray Inc. acted as financial advisor to Quadion Corporation in
connection with the Tool Products transaction.
    With headquarters in Troy, Michigan, Intermet Corporation and its
subsidiaries design and manufacture precision iron and aluminum cast
components for automotive and industrial equipment manufacturers worldwide.
Intermet also produces precision machined components and manufactures cranes
and specialty service vehicles.  The company has more than 5,700 employees at
sixteen locations in North America and Europe.  The company's Internet address
is http://www.intermet.com.
    This news release may include forecasts and forward-looking statements
about Intermet, its industry and the markets in which it operates.
Forward-looking statements and the achievement of any forecasts or projections
are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or denied.  Such risks and
uncertainties are fully detailed as a preface to the Management's Discussion
and Analysis of Financial Condition in the Company's 1997 Annual Report for
the year ended December 31, 1997.