Cascade Corp. Announces Agreement to Divest Mast Business Unit

19 November 1998

Cascade Corp. Announces Agreement to Divest Mast Business Unit

    PORTLAND, Ore.--Nov. 19, 1998--Robert C. Warren, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Cascade Corporation , announced that the company had reached agreement for the sale of its mast business unit to a newly formed company headed by William J. Harrison, who will resign as a Cascade executive and director.
    The sale includes the Cascade manufacturing facility in Westminster, S.C., and is expected to close in January, 1999. Final terms of the transaction have not been completed, but the purchase price may include some of Harrison's current holdings of Cascade shares.
    Masts are the upright or lifting mechanisms on a conventional lift truck. "Cascade Corporation has long been a producer of high quality masts for specialized lifting applications," Warren said. "In 1986, the company embarked on a program to produce standard masts primarily for sale to original equipment manufacturers. While profitable, this business has not provided the level of return management looks for in its major business units."
    Warren added, "Bill Harrison's new company will be able to put an entrepreneurial focus on this product line, and we wish him the best in his new endeavor."
    Harrison said that the new mast company, owned by a group of business associates, employees, and himself, is committed to supplying from its facilities in North America and Europe, an expanded product line of standard masts, carriages, and outsourced products to its international customers.
    Cascade Corporation, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is a leading international manufacturer of lift truck attachments, forks, tires and accessories.

    Under the "safe harbor provisions" of the Private Securities Litigation Act, Cascade is required to advise you this news release contains "forward looking statements" based on assumptions as to future sales and earnings, which in turn are dependent on economic conditions in general, including interest rates, on competitive factors in, and on the cyclical nature of, the Materials Handling Industry.