Hexagon Purchases Brown & Sharpe's Worldwide Metrology Business

    NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.--May 3, 2001--The sale of Brown & Sharpe's worldwide metrology business to Hexagon, A. B. of Stockholm, Sweden was approved by Brown & Sharpe's board of directors at a special meeting on April 27.
    The metrology business is comprised of Brown & Sharpe's Measuring Systems Group, headquartered in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, with factories in Italy, Germany, Lithuania and China; and its Precision Measuring Instruments Division, headquartered in Renens, Switzerland. The sale price was approximately $170 million, subject to some final adjustments.
    As a member of the Hexagon group of companies, Brown & Sharpe's metrology operations will do business as Brown & Sharpe, Inc. and the Brown & Sharpe name will continue to be the prime brand and promoted worldwide. The remaining business has been renamed BNS Co. and will include the former Brown & Sharpe software development company Brown & Sharpe Information Systems (BSIS), now renamed Xygent, in which Hexagon has also invested.
    The present North Kingstown, RI facility will continue to be the World Headquarters for Brown & Sharpe, Inc. and will also become Hexagon's US headquarters.
    The acquisition agreement was initially approved by Brown & Sharpe's board on November 16, 2000. The transaction was subject to certain governmental clearances in the United States and Europe, which were obtained over the ensuing five months.
    "We believe Brown & Sharpe's knowledge of metrology, business philosophy and sound multi-national distribution network make it the most progressive builder of measuring systems in the world," said Jack Beagley, Brown & Sharpe, Inc. President and CEO. "Those attributes also make Brown & Sharpe a good addition to our corporate family."
    Hexagon, a publicly traded company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, heads a multi-national group of engineering companies with products ranging from metals, automotive transmission components, mobile phone antennas and antenna systems to industrial and marine hydraulics. They have manufacturing operations in Scandinavia, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Sri Lanka, China and the U.S.A., among others. The Group has approximately 4,500 employees and net sales of SEK 5.2 billion (U.S. $530 million).