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Cooper Industries Expands in South America, Mexico

21 December 1998

Cooper Industries Expands in South America, Mexico; Acquisitions Include Buyout of Joint Venture Partners and Two Other Businesses

    HOUSTON, Dec. 21 -- Cooper Industries, Inc. today
announced that it has acquired the remaining 51% interest held by its joint
venture partners in Empresa Andina de Herramientas, S.A., based in Cali,
Colombia, and acquired two Mexican hand tools businesses, Disston Co. de
Mexico, S.A. de C.V. and Metromex, S.A. de C.V.  Terms of the transactions
were not disclosed.
    Empresa Andina de Herramientas, S.A., a manufacturer of files and saw
blades, has annual sales of approximately $13 million.  Empresa holds a
leading market position in the sale of these products in Colombia, Venezuela,
Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.  The company was formed in 1977 and today employs
more than 300 people.
    Cooper also announced today that it has acquired two tool companies in
Mexico: Disston Co. de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., and Metromex, S.A. de C.V., both
headquartered in Mexico City.  Disston makes a wide range of consumer hardware
products sold through wholesalers and hardware stores in Mexico.  Disston
employs approximately 200 people.  Metromex's primary products are measuring
tapes and measuring devices.  Metromex employs about 100 people.  In addition
to selling locally-made products, both companies import and distribute
consumer hardware products and tools.  Combined annual sales for Disston and
Metromex are approximately $14 million.
    "Combining the complementary strengths of Cooper and these businesses will
enable us to dramatically expand our presence and growth in the hardware and
hand tool markets in Mexico and South America," said H. John Riley, Jr.,
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "In addition, these
operations provide Cooper increased opportunities for supplying our existing
markets around the world."
    All three companies will become part of the Cooper Tools division, a
leading manufacturer of hand tools sold under well-known brand names such as
Campbell chain, Crescent wrenches, Lufkin measuring tapes and Nicholson files
and saws.  Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Cooper Tools has
manufacturing facilities in eleven domestic and eleven international
locations, and approximately 5,500 employees worldwide.
    Cooper Industries, a worldwide manufacturer of electrical products, tools
and hardware, is headquartered in Houston, Texas.  Additional information
about Cooper is available on the company's World Wide Web site:
http://www.cooperindustries.com.