Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. Acquires Honsel International Technologies Holdings

NEW YORK, and MERCHEDE, Germany, Dec. 1, 2004 -- Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. announced today that it is acquiring German-based Honsel International Technologies Holdings (HIT) from The Carlyle Group.

Honsel International Technologies, one of the world's largest independent suppliers of cast, machined and assembled light metal components to the automotive industry, consists of two companies -- Honsel and ACT. With its full service capabilities and technological advancement, Honsel supplies roughly 75 percent of Europe's premium passenger car lines including Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Volvo. ACT, with headquarters in Canada, is a leading provider of metal castings to the North American auto industry.

Richard M. Donnelly, HIT's newly appointed Chairman, said, "Honsel's global leadership position in product development and manufacturing excellence provides us an ideal platform to build the first truly global casting supplier solely dedicated to the automobile industry. We see sustained automotive growth through 2008 and beyond and believe it will focus on a number of new light weight casting solutions including more use of aluminum and magnesium components and assemblies."

Donnelly said the convergence of OEMs reducing more in-house castings, regulatory requirements relating to fuel economy and emissions standards leading to reduced vehicle weight, plus HIT's full service product development and manufacturing capability, make the acquisition particularly timely. In addition, he said Ripplewood expects to make a number of acquisitions in the future to fulfill its global automotive casting vision.

"The addition of Honsel and ACT builds on Ripplewood's experience in the automotive sector following last year's acquisition of Japan-based Asahi Tech Corporation which also specializes in the manufacture of aluminum and iron castings," Donnelly added. "We now have a strong foothold in this business in Europe, North and South America and Asia. While Asahi and HIT will operate separately, we see substantial synergies to be gained from cross selling and sharing of best practices."

Donnelly, former president of General Motors of Europe, is also chairman of Niles and a board member of Asahi Tech, both Ripplewood portfolio companies. Dr. Engelbert Heimes continues as CEO of both HIT and Honsel. Joining Donnelly and Heimes in executive positions are:

* Anthony A. Barone, a Ripplewood Industrial partner, former CFO of Tower Automotive and former Chairman and CFO of JL French. Barone is HIT's new CFO.

* Andrea Richoz, vice chairman of Swisscom and former CEO of Georg Fischer's Automation Technology Group, becomes a director of Honsel's Supervisory Board.

* Robert Ostendorf, former president of Morgan Corporation, a manufacturer of truck bodies, continues as CEO of ACT.

* Thomas T. Stallkamp, former Vice Chairman and President of DaimlerChrysler and former Chairman of MSX International, becomes an Industrial partner in Ripplewood's automotive sector and a director on the HIT Board. "I am pleased to be joining the other industrial partners at Ripplewood and looking forward to helping build HIT into a major global supplier to the automotive industry."

Honsel operates six plants in Germany, two in France and one in Brazil. ACT operates five plants in Canada. The Honsel family, whose ancestors founded the company in 1908, will remain minority investors in the company.

Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. was established in l995 by Timothy C. Collins. Ripplewood currently manages five institutional private equity funds with approximately $10 billion in total capital. To date, the firm has invested more than $2 billion in transactions with aggregate enterprise value in excess of $12 billion and total revenues of $12 billion. The firm employs 45 professionals in New York and Tokyo.

Ripplewood's hallmark is its focused Industrial Partnership investing style in which the firm first identifies a promising industry segment and then partners with an experienced senior industry executive to search for attractive targets, complete acquisitions and implement post-closing value enhancements.

Ripplewood has invested in 18 platform companies in a number of industries including auto parts, automotive retailing, consumer electronics, direct marketing, financial services, food and consumer products, music and entertainment, specialty chemicals, technology and telecom services.

Among the firm's most well known transactions are the acquisitions of Japan Telecom, the largest leveraged buyout in Japan, and of The Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, since renamed Shinsei Bank.