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Pacific International Enterprises Inc. Acquires the Assets of France
Sports
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif.--Jan. 21, 1999--Pacific International Enterprises Inc. (OTC BB: PCIE), and France Sports Mfg., on Jan. 14, 1999, signed an acquisition agreement where PCIE acquired the assets of France Sports Mfg. L.L.C. and the assets of Twenty/Four Seven, L.L.C. These asset acquisitions will be operated as "The France Group". France Sports is a state of the art, multi-line snowboard manufacturer producing a broad spectrum of boards from high-end racing to mass market. Its customers include both national and international distribution channels and retail outlets. Twenty/Four Seven is a snowboard company whose racing program is acclaimed worldwide. The assets acquired include all tooling, dies, molds, CAD-CAM & CNC computerization, injection, molding equipment, hydraulic presses, fixtures and fittings, computerized test center, inventories of finished product, product parts and raw materials; bank and cash balances, intellectual properties including all patents, and trade names, all customer orders on hand and works in process. Jim Fraser, general manager of The France Group, will be responsible for all the divisional operations and the marketing of 24/7 Snowboards, HBS Snowboard boots and CK Bindings product brand names and OEM to the mass markets. Doug Bell, president of the Microski Division, will be responsible for all the divisional operations and the marketing of its complete line of mini skis and bindings. Binks Graval, chairman/CEO of PCIE, stated: "The synergy we create through these acquisitions will act as a catalyst to open new markets and expand existing ones. The key aspect of these acquisitions combines PCIE management's extensive manufacturing and marketing experience with The France Group's diverse technologies in product development and manufacturing. I believe that this is the only facility in North America that has RIM, Web Lay Up, PU Core and High Compression Molding technology capabilities. This, along with other positives, will strengthen and diversify our basis for revenue growth now and in the future." "This outstanding facility," stated Anthony Broughton, PCIE's CFO, "is our second asset acquisition -- the first being Microski. We will continue to focus on leading edge technologies with market growth opportunities for year round revenue streams. We have several other companies and technologies under review at this time that will present PCIE and its shareholders with continued growth in assets and profit opportunities." Jim Fraser, general manager of The France Group, stated: "We are on target to become a dominant multiple product OEM manufacturer and will be very aggressive in securing our place in the market. We have also built an exceptional team for our brands division including former world champion Chris Karol as senior brands manager, ex-Bennetton Sportsystem's Christa Paterson as marketing manager and K-2 alumni Gavin Myers as director of R&D.; 24/7 will launch exciting new technologies and introduce its new team of riders including Nagano '98 Olympic Gold Medalist, Ross Rebagliatti and four time World Champion Mike Jacoby. These world class professionals, added to a state of the art factory and multi-season product lines, place us in the competitive arena with the other publicly traded snowboard companies; Ride, K-2 and Morrow." THE FRANCE GROUP, a Division of Pacific International Enterprises Inc., develops and manufactures sports related products for rapidly growing markets, including snowboarding, wakeboarding, mini-skiing and skateboarding. The France Group brand names are a leader in their category by providing superior levels of performance and quality. Statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigations Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, continued acceptance of the company's products, increased levels of competition for the company, and dependence on third party suppliers.
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