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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WALTER INDUSTRIES
AGREES TO SELL JW ALUMINUM SUBSIDIARY TO WELLSPRING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT FOR
$125 MILLION
(Tampa, Florida) October 30,
2003--Walter Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WLT) and Wellspring Capital Management
LLC entered into a definitive agreement today for Walter Industries to sell
its JW Aluminum Company subsidiary to Wellspring Capital for $125 million.
"We expect JW Aluminum to be
an outstanding addition to our portfolio of companies," said William F. Dawson
Jr., a Wellspring Capital partner. "JW Aluminum has proven its operational
excellence, and its reputation for quality and service is well-known in the
industry. We look forward to working with JW Aluminum's management team as
we build an even stronger company in the future."
"While JW Aluminum has been a
strong performer for Walter Industries, it does not fit our long-term strategy
of reducing the complexity of the corporation," said Don DeFosset, Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of Walter Industries. "This divestiture, along
with the pending divestiture of our AIMCOR subsidiary, is a significant step
towards focusing the company on our core businesses of Homebuilding, Financing
and U.S. Pipe."
The transaction, anticipated
to close in the fourth quarter, is subject to the fulfillment of customary
closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals. Walter
Industries was represented by Banc of America Securities LLC in the transaction.
JW Aluminum, based in Mount Holly,
South Carolina, manufactures specialty flat-rolled aluminum products including
"fin stock" used by the heating and cooling industry. Wellspring Capital is
a New York-based private equity firm that manages more than $1 billion in
capital. The firm is focused on acquiring middle-market companies where it
can realize value by contributing innovative operating and financing strategies
and capital. Among Wellspring's holdings are Vistar Corp., one of the nation's
largest foodservice distributors, and Residential Services Group, Inc., one
of the nation's largest providers of heating, ventilation, air conditioning
and refrigeration (HVAC) and plumbing services to the residential and commercial
markets.
Walter Industries, Inc. is a
diversified company with revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, excluding
JW Aluminum and AIMCOR. The company is a leader in homebuilding, home financing
and water transmission products. Based in Tampa, Florida, the company employs
approximately 5,400 people.
For more information about Walter
Industries, please call Joe Troy, Senior Vice President - Financial Services,
at (813) 871-4404 or visit its web site at www.walterind.com. For more information
about Wellspring Capital, please call Eric Starkman at (212) 252-8545, or
visit its web site at www.wellspringcapital.com.
Except for historical information
contained herein, the statements in this release are forward-looking and made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks
and uncertainties that may cause actual results for Walter Industries ("the
Company") in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results.
Those risks include, among others, changes in customers' demand for the Company's
products, changes in raw material and equipment costs and availability, geologic
conditions and changes in extraction costs in the Company's mining operations,
changes in customer orders, pricing actions by the Company's competitors,
the completion of the sales of AIMCOR and JW Aluminum and their timing, and
general changes in economic conditions. Risks associated with forward-looking
statements are more fully described in the Company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no duty to update its outlook
statements as of any future date.
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