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Binks Sames to Explore Sale of Company

30 March 1999

Binks Sames to Explore Sale of Company; Calls ITW Lawsuit an Attempt To Interfere with Proposed Strategic Alliances

    FRANKLIN PARK, Ill., March 29 -- Binks Sames Corporation
(Amex: BIN) said today that it has received unsolicited inquiries by parties
interested in acquiring all or a part of the Company.  The Company has asked
its financial advisor, William Blair & Company, to review these unsolicited
inquiries and to explore various strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder
value, including the possible sale of all or a portion of the Company to a
third party.
    Arnold H. Dratt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Binks Sames,
as well as its subsidiary Sames SA, located in Grenoble, France, said the
decision to move forward with Blair was prompted by a lawsuit filed March 24
in Circuit Court in Chicago, Ill. by Illinois Tool Works.  Binks Sames has
been in discussions with ITW to resolve the amount of the purchase price
adjustment under the contract for sale of the "Binks Business" to ITW last
October.  Dratt indicated that the parties had failed to reach an agreement
and had jointly agreed to mediate the dispute.  Despite such agreement,
ITW filed the suit seeking a preliminary injunction to, among other things,
prevent Binks Sames from making any material changes to its business.  "In our
view, ITW brought the legal action specifically to prevent Binks Sames from
entering into proposed strategic alliances and to damage the Company's
business prospects," Dratt said.
    Dratt said the ITW suit is an attempt to harm the Company, which is a
direct competitor of ITW.  "The suit does not seek specified monetary payment
but alleges, without substantiation, that Binks Sames will owe ITW
approximately $20 million under the purchase price adjustment.  ITW's
unjustified attempt to interfere with our business and our efforts to maximize
our shareholders' value will be vigorously challenged, and we will look to ITW
for any damage caused to our business as a result of this baseless lawsuit,"
Dratt vowed.  "We could not disagree more with their assessment of the
purchase price adjustment."
    Dratt also said that the Company would suspend its discussions with its
strategic alliance partners, who had expected to execute agreements with the
Company in the next few days, pending resolution of the ITW matter.
    Binks Sames is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of high-quality
spray finishing and coating application equipment.  The Sames business is
noted for its global leadership position in electrostatic finishing equipment
for the automotive finishing market and for the general industrial finishing
market.
    (Statements regarding the possible sale of all or a portion of the
Company, the ITW litigation and the Company's potential strategic alliances
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor
created thereby.  Although the Company believes that the expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements will prove to be correct,
important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
the Company's expectations include, without limitation, the ability of the
Company to identify potential purchasers and to negotiate definitive purchase
agreements, the outcome of the ITW litigation and the ability to enter into
referenced strategic alliances.  No assurance can be given that the
forward-looking statements will prove to be correct.)