Fitch Maintains Johnson Controls Inc.'s Debt Ratings

    CHICAGO--July 26, 2001--Fitch maintains the 'A' for senior unsecured and 'F1' for commercial paper debt ratings of Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI).
    JCI announced yesterday its acquisition of the automotive electronics business of Sagem SA for a purchase price of EUR$500 million or US$435 million in cash. The acquisition affords JCI an estimated EUR$600 million or US$522 million of sales for 2001, electronics expertise in Europe which is geographically and technically complementary to JCI's North American business in this arena, and a solid book of forward business. JCI reports that the transaction will be earnings accretive in 2002. Fitch expects that given JCI's successful track record in acquiring and integrating strategic businesses, the goals can be reasonably met.
    For its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, 2001, JCI continued to perform well in an environment which proved difficult for many in the auto supply sector. Continued stability in operating performance led to modest improvements in credit statistics during the year with debt-to-EBITDA for the 12 months ended at June 30, 2001, at 1.2 times (x) versus 1.3x for the fiscal year-ended Sept. 30, 2000. Total debt amounted to $1.7 billion and cash balances of $299 at June 30, 2001, versus $1.8 billion of debt and $276 million of cash balances at Sept. 30, 2000. Fitch expects JCI's debt to increase with the expected closing of the Sagem SA transaction in October 2001. The transaction is, however, expected to support itself with the additional cash flow going forward.