ABS merges with American Remanufacturers Inc.
(GUELPH, ONTARIO, CANADA, July 19, 2000)

Rick Jamieson, President of ABS Friction (consisting of ABS Friction Holdings Inc., ABS Friction Inc. and ABS On Time Logistics Inc.) is pleased to announce that control of the company has been acquired by American Remanufacturers, Inc. (ARI) of Anaheim, California. The Jamieson, Neil and Schmidt families have retained a significant financial interest in the company. Rick Jamieson, Ralph Neil and Joe Schmidt have agreed to continue in leadership positions with ABS.

ABS Friction Inc. started production in October 1996. It manufactures disc brake pads for the automotive aftermarket. ABS currently produces over 700 applications with customers in over 40 unique markets, exporting to 25 different countries. Its focus is delivering “100% on time every time” worldwide. ABS has received recognition for its exporting success having received Ontario Global Traders Awards in 1998 and 1999.

Rick Jamieson, states, " ABS will continue to sell and market its private label friction products around the world. We have significant, unused capacity, some of which will be used to support programs of the ARI group of companies.” “Customers will continue to receive the high level of delivery and fill rates they have come to expect from ABS Friction over the past four years”, said Jamieson Ralph Neil adds, " ABS will continue with the quick, new number introductions the industry has come to expect from us. We currently have over fifty new applications at the tooling stage that will be introduced over the next 3 months."

Joe Schmidt adds, " I'm very excited about the SDQ (Severe Duty Quality) Friction Program we have worked on for the past year. The additional capacity we have added for this program and the growth we have been anticipating still leaves us with plenty of room to add an NAO (Non Asbestos Organic) program in early 2001.”

Jamieson went on to say that, “There is significant benefit for all our stakeholders coming out of this transaction with ARI. We are now part of a larger organization that will be able to assist us with such things as capital financing, information technology and technical support. We will also indirectly gain access to new markets where we are not currently supplying product. Greater market opportunities means more work and advancement opportunities for our employees, greater purchasing from our suppliers and a larger product mix for our customers with expanded private label programs.”

ARI is one of the largest remanufacturers of undercar product in the U.S. It currently remanufactures premium quality driveline, steering and brake products for passenger cars, light and medium duty trucks, as well as brake calipers and steering components for heavy duty trucks. ARI also houses the most extensive coverage of model 2000 parts available in the market today.