Noble International Announces Completion of LWI Acquisition And Proposed Sale of Monroe Engineering Subsidiary

WARREN, Mich., Jan. 21, 2004 -- Noble International, Ltd., ("Noble" or "the Company") announced the closing of its acquisition of Laser Welding International, Inc. ("LWI") and the proposed sale of its subsidiary, Monroe Engineering Products, Inc. ("Monroe"). As stated in the announcement of the agreement to purchase LWI, management expects the LWI acquisition to add approximately $35 million in revenue and be accretive to earnings for 2004. Noble plans to update its financial guidance when it releases its fourth quarter and full year 2003 financial results in mid- February.

Noble completed the purchase of LWI for a total of $14.7 million, with an additional $1.0 million payable if certain new business is awarded to Noble within the next twelve months. The $14.7 million purchase price includes $14.0 million in cash and the assumption of approximately $0.7 million in subordinated debt. Noble is funding the purchase through an increase in its credit facility of approximately $20 million, made available specifically for the LWI acquisition. The proceeds from the prospective sale of Monroe will reduce the amount borrowed to purchase LWI by approximately $5.5 million. During 2004, management also expects that proceeds from an anticipated income tax refund will be available to further reduce debt incurred in the LWI acquisition.

Noble believes that the acquisition of LWI and its industry-leading curvilinear laser welding technology will allow it to eliminate approximately $2 million in capital spending from its 2004 budget. Management had previously planned to invest in further developing its own curvilinear laser welding technology and equipment, an investment that can now be eliminated or redeployed to fund other growth opportunities. Noble's previous guidance on its 2004 capital budget was for spending of $4 million to $6 million.

The proposed sale of Monroe is part of the Company's plan to sell non-core assets to fund the growth of its automotive business. Under the terms of the sale agreement, Noble will receive approximately $5.5 million in cash for Monroe. Noble expects to record a pre-tax loss of approximately $1.7 million on the sale of Monroe. Monroe has remained profitable, but declining revenue and profitability over the past five years led management to conclude that Monroe's growth prospects were limited and unlikely to improve due to Noble's commitment of its resources to the more profitable automotive business.

Noble's Chief Executive Officer, Christopher L. Morin, stated, "We carefully evaluated the performance of Monroe and explored various alternatives to maximize its value to Noble. After considering these alternatives and evaluating Monroe's growth potential versus immediate growth opportunities in our automotive business, we concluded that selling Monroe at this time was best for the Company and maximized Monroe's realizable value. We believe these actions are in the best interests of our stockholders in both the short and long term." Mr. Morin commented further, "The LWI acquisition, along with our recent purchase of Prototube and our current technology, continues to make Noble the market leader."

LWI's Chief Executive Officer, Steve Prue, commented on the acquisition by Noble, "We are pleased that we are joining the industry leader in laser welding and operating excellence. Noble's purchase combines our industry- leading curvilinear laser welding capabilities and Noble's operational excellence, quality, technology and broad customer relationships. LWI's long- standing relationship with General Motors is a strong one and GM has expressed its support for the acquisition. Noble's financial strength and operating capabilities should support more rapid growth of the market for laser-welded blanks while the curvilinear technology allows the Company to offer the market more laser-welded blank applications, supporting further expansion of the market."

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Noble International, Ltd. is a leading supplier of automotive parts, component assemblies and value-added services to the automotive industry. As an automotive supplier, Noble provides design, engineering, manufacturing, complete program management and other services to the automotive market. Noble delivers integrated component solutions, technological leadership and product innovation to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier I automotive parts suppliers thereby helping its customers increase their productivity while controlling costs.

Certain statements made by Noble International, Ltd. in this presentation and other periodic oral and written statements, including filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, as well as statements which address operating performance, events or developments that we believe or expect to occur in the future, including those that discuss strategies, goals, outlook or other non- historical matters, or which relate to future sales or earnings expectations, cost savings, awarded sales, volume growth, earnings or a general belief in our expectations of future operating results, are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are made on the basis of management's assumptions and estimations. As a result, there can be no guarantee or assurance that these assumptions and expectations will in fact occur. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to materially differ from those contained in the statements. Some, but not all of the risks, include our ability to obtain future sales; our ability to successfully integrate acquisitions; changes in worldwide economic and political conditions, including adverse effects from terrorism or related hostilities including increased costs, reduced production or other factors; costs related to legal and administrative matters; our ability to realize cost savings expected to offset price concessions; inefficiencies related to production and product launches that are greater than anticipated; changes in technology and technological risks; increased fuel costs; work stoppages and strikes at our facilities and that of our customers; the presence of downturns in customer markets where the Company's goods and services are sold; financial and business downturns of our customers or vendors; and other factors, uncertainties, challenges, and risks detailed in Noble's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Noble does not intend or undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For more information see www.nobleintl.com .