---

Carrier North American Operations Announces Key Business Initiative

11 September 1998

Carrier North American Operations Announces Key Business Initiative

    SYRACUSE, N.Y.--Sept. 10, 1998--Carrier Corporation has recently completed two transactions in support of a key North American business initiative to respond to the changing market environment more efficiently.
    Carrier acquired a 49 percent interest in Carleton-Stuart Corporation. Carleton-Stuart has been a Carrier distributor of heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment (HVAC) products for over 50 years in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and western Massachusetts. Carleton-Stuart's 1997 sales were approximately $140 million.
    In a separate transaction, Carrier acquired Automatic Equipment Sales (AES), which had sales of approximately $300 million in 1997. AES has been a Carrier HVAC distributor for over 40 years in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. corridor, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas.
    The landscape of the North American HVAC marketplace is changing with dealers, distributors and contractors consolidating, and utility customers and national accounts representing a growing portion of Carrier's business. These two transactions are part of Carrier's comprehensive plan to respond to the changing market trends and to serve customers more efficiently.
    Carrier Corporation is the world's largest manufacturer of heating and air conditioning systems and equipment. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, provider of a broad range of high-technology products and support services to the aerospace, building systems and automotive industries.