Newell Rubbermaid Inc. Acquires French Window

Furnishings / Manufacturer Ateliers 28 FREEPORT, Ill. (ots-PRNewswire) - Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ateliers 28 located in Tremblay Les Villages, France. Ateliers 28, with estimated 1998 revenues of US $40 million, manufactures and markets decorative and functional drapery hardware in Europe, principally in France. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Ateliers 28 will operate as part of Newell Window Fashions Europe which includes the Hofesa(TM), Acrimo(TM), Gardinia(TM), Swish(R) and Kirsch(R) brand names. Peter J. Martin is president of Newell Window Fashions Europe. Based in Freeport, Ill., Newell Rubbermaid Inc. is a multi- national manufacturer and marketer of high-volume, branded, staple consumer products with restated 1998 sales of $6.2 billion. Newell Rubbermaid products are sold through a variety of retail and wholesale distribution channels in the following business segments: Household Products, including Mirro(R) and Calphalon(R) cookware, Rubbermaid(R) and Curver(R) home products, Little Tikes(R), Graco(R) and Century(R) infant and juvenile products, Anchor Hocking(R) glassware and Goody(R) hair accessories; Hardware and Home Furnishings, including Levolor(R), Kirsch(R) and Newell(R) window treatments, Amerock(R), EZ Paintr(R), BernzOmatic(R) and Bulldog(R) hardware and tools, Intercraft(R) and Burnes(R) picture frames and Lee Rowan(R) home storage products; and Office Products, including Sanford(R), Berol(R), Sharpie(R) and Rotring(R) writing instruments and Rolodex(R) and Eldon(R) office storage and organization products. The statements contained in this press release that are not historical in nature are forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements are not guarantees since there are inherent difficulties in predicting future results, and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, without limitation, those disclosed in Newell's 1998 Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ots Original Text Service: Newell Rubbermaid Inc. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Ross A. Porter, Jr., Vice President - Investor Relations of Newell Rubbermaid Inc., 815- 381-8150 Web site: http://www.newellco.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT